Trust Litigation | See the Truth, Tell the Truth

Trust Litigation | See the Truth, Tell the Truth

• May 12, 2021 - Estate Litigation, Trust Litigation,

I’m Mike Hackard of Hackard Law. We’re lawyers and advocates. Most of our advocacy centers around trust, estate, and elder financial abuse disputes.

Less litigated disputes often involve ambiguity in legal documents. These disputes may have muddled words and alternate meanings. They’re less emotional than disputes where truth seems to be an orphan.

There’s an old saying: “See the Truth, Tell the Truth.” There are plenty of cases where people don’t tell the truth.

They may not see it as well. Then again, the deceit might be intentional. Or rationalized, exaggerated, obscured. It may be a fabrication. A manufactured falsehood.

Discovery, including depositions, can provide an opportunity to seek the truth. It’s by no means perfect. People can still prevaricate.

We step back and work to see the truth. We work to tell the truth. It’s an interesting process.

In one of our recent civil cases, the opposing party took the 5^th Amendment when asked a number of questions. An opposing party can’t simply point to their silence and claim victory. That said, a court is entitled to draw logical conclusions against the party that “pleads the Fifth.”

Pleading the Fifth is never helpful, rarely harmless, and is typically very damaging. While it is a constitutional right, at least in a civil trial setting, it is not helpful in either seeing or telling the truth.

Hackard Law litigates trust, estate, and catastrophic injury cases throughout California.

If you’d like to talk with us about your case, call us at 916 313-3030. We’ll be happy to speak with you.

Hackard Law: Attorneys making a difference.