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Straight answers about trusts, wills, and the fights that follow.
Deadlines, trust contests, accountings, elder financial abuse, and what to do when you are the trustee being accused – written in plain English by the lawyers who handle these cases in San Jose.
Deadlines
How long do I have?
Trust contests can be barred 120 days after the trustee’s notice. Answer four questions and see which California deadlines may apply to you.
- 120 daysto contest a trust after the trustee’s notice is mailed
- One yearfrom the death for claims against the person who died
- Three yearsafter an accounting to sue a trustee for what it shows
23 articles
DeadlinesAug 27, 202611 min read
How Long Do You Have to Contest a Trust or Will in California?
The 120-day trust deadline, the will deadlines, the one-year rule for claims against someone who died, and the clocks for trustees and elder abuse. What starts them, what stops them, and what to do this week.
Undue Influence & CapacityAug 11, 202610 min read
A Caregiver Married My Parent: What California Law Allows
A caregiver who married the person they cared for used to be nearly untouchable. The capacity to marry is the lowest bar in the law, and an annulment ends at death. Since 2020 California presumes that gifts to the caregiver spouse, and the spouse's share of the estate, are undue influence when they fall within six months of the wedding. What that means for your family, step by step.
For TrusteesMay 12, 202611 min read
California Trustee Duties Checklist: How to Stay Out of Court
Most family trustees who get sued did nothing dishonest. They skipped a step nobody told them about. Here is every duty California puts on a trustee, the statute behind it, the steps that satisfy it, and the mistake first-time trustees make most.
Technology & the LawFeb 17, 202619 min read
AI Glossary for Lawyers and Clients
The AI vocabulary you keep running into, defined in a sentence or two each. Use your browser's find command to jump to a term.
For TrusteesJan 27, 202611 min read
How to Serve the Notification by Trustee (Probate Code 16061.7)
The notification by trustee is a one-page letter with five required items and one boldface warning. Mail it within 60 days of the death and every person served has 120 days to contest the trust. Get the warning wrong and the clock never starts.
Complex EstatesDec 9, 202511 min read
When the Trust Owns Real Estate, an LLC, and the Family Business
A trust that holds a Palo Alto house, a rental, an LLC, and Dad's company cannot be split with arithmetic. Here is how the title fight (the Heggstad petition), the value fight, and the control fight actually work, and what the Santa Clara County probate court will and will not do.
Probate ProcessNov 11, 202511 min read
Santa Clara County Probate Court: How Trust Litigation Works
Where trust and estate disputes are heard in Santa Clara County, the six phases of a contested case, typical timelines, how the money works, and what to bring to a first meeting.
Complex EstatesOct 7, 202511 min read
Multi-Million Trust Disputes Among Siblings in the Bay Area
Four siblings, a Palo Alto house, a company, and a late amendment. How a multi-million trust fight unfolds, what it costs, why the trust should not pay for anyone's side, and how mediation ends most of them.
For TrusteesSep 16, 202511 min read
How to Respond to a Trustee Removal Petition in California
A removal petition is a lawsuit inside the trust. The court removes a trustee for a breach, unfitness, failure to act, or other good cause, not because a beneficiary is angry. Here is what the first hearing decides, what to file in the first 30 days, and how a family trustee who acted in good faith keeps the job or leaves on their own terms.
For TrusteesAug 19, 202511 min read
Defending Against Undue Influence or Elder Abuse Accusations
Your siblings say the care you gave Mom was really pressure. Here is what they have to prove, why the statutory presumption does not reach a child, the one presumption that can, and the file that answers it.
Trustees & FiduciariesJul 15, 202511 min read
California Trustee Won't Give You an Accounting or the Trust?
After a parent dies you are owed the trustee's notice within 60 days, a full copy of the trust on request, and an accounting at least once a year. What each must contain, how to demand it, and what the San Jose probate court does when the trustee stalls.
For TrusteesJun 10, 202511 min read
Can a Trustee Use Trust Funds to Pay Attorney Fees in California?
A family trustee can hire a lawyer and pay from the trust for trust work. Not for a fight over your own share, and not for defending a breach you committed. Here is the rule, the table, and the paperwork the judge will want to see.
For TrusteesMay 20, 202511 min read
Trust Beneficiary Rights: A Trustee's 60-Day Response Guide
A beneficiary has sent you a demand for the trust and an accounting. Here is what they are owed, what they are not, the 60-day clock that starts the day the letter lands, and how to answer so your reply is your best exhibit instead of theirs.
For TrusteesApr 15, 202511 min read
What Is a Heggstad Petition? Getting Property Into the Trust
Your parent listed the house in the trust and never signed the deed. A Heggstad petition can fix that without probate, but only if the right paper exists. Here is what the court needs to see, how the hearing works in San Jose, and what happens when it fails.
For TrusteesMar 25, 202511 min read
You're the Trustee and a Beneficiary Is Threatening to Sue
Most family trustees who get sued did nothing dishonest. They went quiet, mixed money, or paid a lawyer from the trust for a fight that was really their own. Here is what to do in the first week, what the court will look at, and who pays.
Trustees & FiduciariesFeb 11, 202511 min read
How to Remove a Trustee in California: Breach of Fiduciary Duty
A trustee who self-deals, plays favorites, or stonewalls can be removed by the probate court and ordered to pay the trust back with interest. The four duties, the nine removal grounds, and the three-year clock on the money.
Elder Financial AbuseJan 14, 202511 min read
Elder Financial Abuse in California: What Families Can Do
If a caregiver, sibling, spouse, or "friend" took your parent's money or property, California gives the family a civil claim with mandatory attorney's fees and often double damages. Four years from discovery to file, one year if the abuser has died.
Undue Influence & CapacityDec 10, 202411 min read
Can You Prove Lack of Testamentary Capacity in California?
A dementia diagnosis does not void a will or trust by itself. The question is what your parent understood at the moment of signing, which test applies to the document, and what the medical chart, the drafting lawyer's file, and the witnesses say about that day.
Will ContestsNov 12, 202411 min read
How to Contest a Will in California: Grounds and Deadlines
Two windows to contest a will in California: object in writing before the court admits it, or petition to revoke within 120 days after. Who has standing, the five grounds that work, how the case runs at the probate court in San Jose, and what a no-contest clause really means.
For TrusteesOct 22, 202411 min read
California Trust Accounting Requirements That Hold Up in Court
A trust accounting is not a spreadsheet of bank statements. It is six required items, in a summary-and-schedules format if it ever reaches a judge, with two warnings that start a three-year clock in the trustee's favor. Here is how a family trustee builds one that holds up.
Undue Influence & CapacitySep 10, 202411 min read
Undue Influence in California: What It Is and How You Prove It
California defines undue influence as excessive persuasion that overcomes a person's free will and produces an unfair result. The four factors, the red flags, the two presumptions that shift the burden, and how a contest is actually proven in Santa Clara County.
Undue Influence & CapacityAug 13, 202411 min read
What to Do If a Sibling or Caregiver Steals Your Inheritance
California presumes a caregiver's inheritance was undue influence and makes the caregiver disprove it. A sibling's gift is presumed nothing, but the same red flags win those cases, and this guide covers what you can ask the court for and how long you have.
Trust ContestsJul 16, 202411 min read
How to Contest a Trust in California: Grounds and Steps
Yes, a trust can be contested after the person who made it dies. Five grounds, one petition in probate court, and a 120-day fuse. Who can file, what each ground takes to prove, and what a contest looks like in San Jose.
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