Palos Verdes Estates Trust and Estate Disputes

In brief: More than a quarter of Palos Verdes Estates residents are 65 or older. When an older resident’s money or property is taken through isolation or undue influence, California’s elder financial abuse law allows recovery, and when abuse is proven the court must award attorney’s fees and costs. Hackard Law handles these cases on contingency: no fee and no costs if there is no recovery, unless your written agreement provides otherwise.

By Michael Hackard, California trust and estate litigation attorney. Last reviewed October 26, 2026. Updated November 3, 2026.

Nine in ten Palos Verdes Estates homes are owner-occupied, and more than a quarter of residents are 65 or older. An older town is not a more vulnerable one. But where people live alone in large homes, isolation becomes the most common doorway to financial abuse.

An Olmsted-planned community

The name means “green sticks,” from the Sepúlveda family’s rancho. Frank Vanderlip bought the land in 1913, and the Olmsted Brothers planned the community, the oldest of the four Peninsula cities. Palos Verdes Estates incorporated in 1939.

Elder financial abuse and isolation

California defines elder financial abuse as taking, secreting, appropriating, obtaining, or retaining the property of a person 65 or older for a wrongful use or with intent to defraud, helping someone else do so, or doing so by undue influence (Welfare & Institutions Code §§ 15610.27, 15610.30). When it is proven, the court must award attorney’s fees and costs (§ 15657.5).

The pattern usually begins with distance. Calls go unanswered. One person becomes the only one who sees the parent. Then the documents change, and the money moves.

Warning signs

• A new companion or helper who answers the phone.
• Mail redirected or a new post office box.
• Large checks, wires, or gifts the parent would not have made.
• A new will, trust amendment, or deed favoring the newcomer.

Palos Verdes Estates at a glance

• Population: 13,347 (2020 Census); 12,559 (2025 estimate)
• Residents 65 and older: 27.2%
• Median home value: Above the Census Bureau’s $2,000,000 top code
• Owner-occupied homes: 89.7%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 Census, 2025 population estimates, and American Community Survey 2020–2024.

Where your case is heard

Trust and probate cases for Palos Verdes Estates are heard in the probate departments of Los Angeles County Superior Court, Stanley Mosk Courthouse, 111 North Hill Street, Los Angeles, California 90012, approximately 28 driving miles from Palos Verdes Estates. Actual distance varies by starting point and route. Hackard Law’s office is in Sacramento County. The firm handles matters in Los Angeles County Superior Court and throughout California.

How fees work

Hackard Law represents families on a contingency basis. The fee is a percentage of the recovery, stated in a written agreement before work begins. The firm advances the costs of the case, which are repaid from the recovery. If there is no recovery, you owe no fee and no costs, unless your written agreement provides otherwise.