I’m going to tell you why you are wrong today if you think that your parents would never disinherit you.
If you receive a trust or will after a parent dies, and you’ve been disinherited, it could be that there are grounds to try and overturn that trust or will if your parent lacked capacity or was the victim of undue influence.
But a lot of times people say to us, “I know that my parent would never disinherit me.” Well, it may be true that you know that, and it may even be a true statement. But it doesn’t help you in a court of law.
If you’re going to go to court to overturn a trust or a will, you’re going to have to have evidence. Evidence of your parent’s lack of capacity. Evidence that somebody conducted undue influence on your parent. That evidence cannot simply be you saying, “I know my parent would never do this.”
California law presumes that any document that is signed by your parent is valid. That’s the starting point. It becomes your burden to prove that the document is invalid. You have the burden of proof. That means you have to bring evidence to court. You better get to work. You have to do subpoenas. You have to do depositions. You have to do discovery. You have to go out there and find those witnesses and evidence that are going to help you present your argument and, hopefully, prevail in trying to get a bad trust or will overturned and receive your rightful inheritance.
