We have all seen a television show or movie where a lawyer stands up and presents a “surprise” witness. The crowd in the courtroom gasps, the opposing attorney stands up and strenuously objects, but the judge allows the witness to take the stand and the case is won on the strength of this single witness. […]
If you are heading into trial, you will be expected to prepare and file a trial brief with the court. Every judge is a little different and some of them want specific items in the trial brief (so check your local rules and the judge’s trial preparation rules). But the basics are fairly similar throughout […]
So you want to appeal your Orange County Trust or Will lawsuit, are you sure? Overturning a trial court’s decision on a Trust or Will matter is not so easy. In fact, that is true of most trial court decisions, but even more so in probate because of the wide discretion given to judges in […]
Appealing a Probate Court’s order on a Trust or Will lawsuit is not so easy. That is true of nearly all civil cases actually—appellate review is rather limited in scope and therefore rarely results in overturning a trial court decision. In fact, the law states that an appeal court is not supposed to re-try the […]
So you want to appeal your Bay Area Trust or Will lawsuit after trial? In the normal world of civil lawsuits, the rules for when you must appeal are fairly easy to maneuver because it is based on the entry of the judgment and there is only one judgment. In Trust and Will lawsuits, however, […]
Under California Probate Code section 15800, a Trustee of a revocable Trust only owes duties to the person who has the power to revoke, so long as that person is living and has capacity. That means if you are the beneficiary under a revocable Trust, you do not have the rights normally given to Trust […]
If you are suing to overturn a Trust or Will, or taking any other action for that matter, on the basis of capacity or undue influence, then you need an expert witness. In fact, in any case where there is information in medical records, you need an expert witness. Why? Because of a little thing […]
If you are a Trustee, you have many duties. One of them is not to act as Trustee of two adverse Trusts at the same time. What are adverse Trusts? For example, if two Trusts are fighting over the same piece of real property, then they would have adverse interests. If the Trustees of these […]
Language the English tricky can be. Many a Trust or Will has been litigated over the use of language. While the words may seem perfectly clear when written, circumstances can change, unforeseen events can occur, and misunderstandings can arise that lead to ambiguity in how a Trust or Will should be interpreted and enforced. Luckily, […]
When Trust or Will terms cannot be discerned by the way in which they were written, the court must follow the interpretation rules set out in the California Probate Code. One of those rules is found at Section 21121, which requires the Court to read the Trust or will document as a consistent whole. What […]
