San Francisco Trust and Estate Litigation

It’s all so confusing

Will, Trust, joint tenancy, deeds, life insurance, pay-on-death accounts, probate; what does it all mean? When a family member dies, they can leave behind a confused mess of assets and problems.

Our Trust and Will laws are a complicated patchwork of rules that have no interrelation to one another whatsoever.  It’s like playing different board games. For example, the game of Monopoly has nothing to do with the game of Battleship; they are different games with different rules that operate independent of one another.

The same is true of trusts and wills. They may seem similar, but they operate under different rules that have no interrelation at all. Add in joint tenancy property, beneficiary designations under life insurance and retirement accounts, and paid-on-death accounts—all with their own set of independent rules—and you start to get the picture.

If you want to challenge how assets pass at death, your attorney may have to bring multiple lawsuits against multiple asset transfers. Suing to set aside a Will has no affect on Trust assets. Suing to set aside a Trust has no affect on Will assets. Each asset may have to be challenged with a different lawsuit depending on how that asset is held, how it transfers, to whom it transfers, and so on.