Under universally accepted law, across every jurisdiction, lawyers owe vital and concrete duties to their clients. The duty of confidentiality. The duty of loyalty. The duty to disclose. And, greatest of all, the duty to...more
The California Courts of Appeal are typically pretty stingy with their published opinions – only about 10% of Court of Appeal decisions are published in the Official Reports. And per Rule 8.1105 of the California Rules of...more
Newcomers to probate litigation are frequently surprised by how differently things work in probate court, as opposed to your more straightforward civil courts. (And how do those newcomers know how civil courts work? Law &...more
Regular readers of this blog have already noted my particular enthusiasm for creativity in legal arguments. I am not a judge (Hi Judge Galvin!), but if I were, I would be sorely tempted to pattern my unique brand of...more
This blog has previously mentioned the most common question we hear when people find out we work in probate litigation: “What can I do to make sure my family doesn’t fight over my property after I die?” Because I am a...more
For centuries, serious legal scholars have debated what is possibly the most vital question of our times: in what ways, if any, does our judicial system differ from basketball? Now, thanks to the California Supreme Court’s...more
As a child, your parents, teachers, and/or some other adult influence probably sat you down and recounted Aesop’s classic fable, The Tortoise and the Hare. “Slow and steady wins the race,” they told you. The slow, methodical,...more
I am not an expert on Zen Buddhism. However, even if I had spent decades of my life studying its tenets (instead of, for example, baseball stats from the 1920’s), I would hesitate to call myself an expert because of what...more
It’s the Halloween season, a time when most of us spend a more-than-reasonable amount of time focusing on the spookier side of things: ghosts, goblins, small children dressed like jack-o-lanterns, suspiciously foggy and...more
You’ve probably heard that “He who represents himself has a fool for a client,” an adage dating back to the 17th century and commonly attributed to Abraham Lincoln (but not by me – I first heard it on an episode of...more
There are a few standard questions I almost always get when people find out that I work in probate litigation. “Do people call you right away when their relatives die?” “Isn’t that tough to deal with, emotionally?” And most...more
We’ve been your dogged reporter on the ever-growing logjam in the Courts of Appeal on trust modification procedure. We’ve followed the twists and turns that courts have taken as they’ve tackled the question of what happens...more
This blog has devoted a lot of real estate to the use of anti-SLAPP motions in California trust and estate litigation. Though the courts’ treatment of such motions is varied and oftentimes unpredictable, Californians can...more
2/28/2023
/ Anti-SLAPP ,
Beneficiaries ,
Cal Code of Civil Procedure ,
Elder Abuse ,
Estate Planning ,
Litigation Funding ,
Probate Courts ,
Protected Activity ,
Trust Amendments ,
Trust Assets ,
Trust Funds ,
Trustees ,
Trusts
Operators of skilled nursing facilities want their patients to enter into arbitration agreements. While such agreements don’t eliminate the risk of litigation, they at least reduce the expense and exposure associated with...more
Another day, another decision by the California Court of Appeal making it more difficult for residential care facilities for the elderly (“RCFEs”) to enforce their arbitration agreements.
Upon admission to virtually any...more
Recent decisions by the California Court of Appeal have heaped stress on the owners/operators of residential care facilities for the elderly (“RCFEs”).
RCFEs, like other businesses, would prefer to avoid the court system...more
Suing the suer is a common strategy in California civil litigation. A special motion to strike, known as an anti-SLAPP motion, can be a powerful weapon against such retaliatory litigation. We have explained the use of such...more
11/9/2021
/ Anti-SLAPP ,
Appeals ,
Beneficiaries ,
Breach of Duty ,
Cal Code of Civil Procedure ,
Division of Assets ,
Family Trusts ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Inheritance ,
No Contest Clause ,
Residual Trusts ,
Trustees
There’s a saying amongst attorneys that “bad facts make bad law.” By extension, “really bad facts” can throw probate procedure into flux by making it harder to qualify for an evidentiary hearing. That’s arguably what happened...more
Section 2030 of California’s Family Code provides an important safeguard to ensure the fairness of marriage dissolution proceedings. It allows the Court to order a more financially well-off party to pay some or all of the...more