That will depend on two major factors: (1) what type of legal entity is the business (i.e., partnership, corporation, limited liability company, etc.), and (2) how did your spouse hold title to the business interest? The type of business entity. Business transactions between partners can be messy because they oftentimes are not well documented. A […]
Who has the right to challenge a Will, or a Trust for that matter? To challenge a Will or a Trust in California, the person filing the Trust or Will contest lawsuit must have legal standing to do so. The concept of standing has evolved from centuries of jurisprudence, first in England and then adopted […]
The answer is maybe, but you’re going to face an uphill battle. Unfortunately, the law does not give you an automatic right to receive a parent’s assets. The step-parent problem may be one of the most difficult, and least understood, issues in Trust and Will law. And it can play out in many different ways […]
The short answer is no. If you are named as the only heir to your parent’s estate, then you win—and all the excluded children lose. You do not owe them anything. Or at least, that is how it should work…in theory. But many cases are not that easy because the excluded children often do not […]
Last updated on 09/04/2024 What can you do when you find yourself left out of a parent’s Will? That all depends on the circumstances surrounding the creation of the Will in the first place. Understanding Inheritance Rights in California For starters, in California children do not have a right to inherit any property from a […]
Many people operate under the mistaken assumption that the law is black and white. That is to say, the law is enforced as it is written…period. But the law is not so black and white after all. In fact, most of the time there is plenty of grey area in the law. This happens for […]
This post is the first in a series of ten posts that will discuss the top 10 myths and misconceptions of trusts and wills. There’s a lot to learn, so let’s get started on this first installment: Is a Trust a public document? Many times people would like to see a copy of their parents’ […]
While it may be funny to think about, you can notice your own client’s deposition if you wish to preserve his or her testimony prior to trial. This is a rarely used technique for rather obvious reasons, you do not usually want to disclose to the opposing party what your questions will be come time […]
Litigation is expensive. The chief reason for the high-cost is discovery. But discovery is a necessary part of preparing your case for settlement or trial, whichever occurs first. Motions, mediations, and trial all benefit from proper discovery being completed. Chief among the useful discovery tools is depositions. Depositions are your chance to ask questions directly […]
If you are going to file a civil lawsuit, you better know the burden you carry. This is particularly true in Trust and Will lawsuits, where burdens are constantly shifting back and forth depending on the claims being tried. In civil lawsuits we deal with two different types of burdens of proof: preponderance of the […]
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