A Fiduciary Can Be Part Of Estate Planning A fiduciary is an individual or organization who has been given the legal authority to act in the best interest of another in various situations. It is important they are loyal, honest and worthy of trust. A fiduciary is hired to make important decisions without regard to […]
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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 […]
So who is in charge of overseeing your Trustee if that person chooses to violate the law and breach his or her fiduciary duties? Surely there is some governmental agency that will step in and hold that bad Trustee accountable…isn’t there? The truth is that there is no governmental authority that oversees that acts of […]
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 […]
When a person dies owning property in his own name and has no Will, the property left behind must pass through probate before it can be transferred to the legal beneficiaries of the estate. Probate is opened and managed by an estate administrator, and the law sets out the priority of who has the right […]
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 […]
If a Trustee breaches a duty, what is the amount for which they are liable? The answer may surprise you. Basically, the Trustee is chargeable with three things: (1) any loss or depreciation in value incurred by the Trust, (2) any profit made by the Trustee, and (3) any profit that would have been made […]
You can sum up a California Trustee’s duty of care in one word: Reasonable. Well that sounds…reasonable. To be precise, California Probate Code section 16040(a) states the standard of care this way: The trustee shall administer the trust with reasonable care, skill, and caution under the circumstances then prevailing that a prudent person acting in […]