Jeffrey S. Galvin

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Jeff Galvin is a partner at Downey Brand LLP. He represents clients in trust and estate litigation, and related civil disputes, in the Greater Sacramento area and across Northern California. He is also licensed to practice in Nevada. Many of Jeff’s clients have no prior experience with litigation and he works to identify and pursue the results that matter most to them.

Jeff advises trustees, administrators and executors who find themselves in conflict with beneficiaries. He helps beneficiaries assert their rights in trust and probate estates. He often litigates cases involving claims of breach of fiduciary duty in which a beneficiary seeks to remove and/or surcharge a trustee, administrator or executor. He prosecutes and defends trust contests and will contests, which typically raise issues of mental capacity, undue influence and elder financial abuse. For example, he successfully defended a trust contest in a 25-day trial in Calaveras County and then defended the judgment on appeal. Jeff also has filed conservatorship actions to stop financial elder abuse.

Jeff is a graduate of UCLA School of Law. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Trusts and Estates Section of the California Lawyers Association and serves as a host on the Section’s “Trust Me!” podcast.

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Lawyers Owe Duties to Nonclients Only When Intent to Benefit Them Was Clear

When does a California estate planning attorney owe a duty of care to people other than the client?  Planners can breathe easier after a recent appellate ruling. The court clarified the limits on legal malpractice claims brought by nonclients. In Gordon v. Ervin, Cohen & Jessup LLP (2023) 88 Cal.App.5th 543, the court explained that … Continue Reading

California Courts Should Prioritize Hearings on Elder Abuse Restraining Orders

A recent California appellate opinion provides guidance on the interplay between applications for elder abuse restraining orders and special motions to strike (also known as anti-SLAPP motions). The opinion tells trial courts to consider applications for restraining orders, so as to protect seniors, even when anti-SLAPP motions are pending. We’ve written earlier about the Southern … Continue Reading

ChatGPT Blog Post on Undue Influence Gets a D

As the New York Times reported in December, “ChatGPT is, quite simply, the best artificial intelligence chatbot ever released to the general public.” Built by OpenAI, a San Francisco-based company, ChatGPT has grabbed headlines over the last two months. Artificial intelligence, including chatbots, has myriad applications in the practice of law. AI no doubt will … Continue Reading

Legislature Updates California’s Guardian Ad Litem Appointment Statutes

California courts may appoint guardians ad litem as helping hands to act for those unable to make their own decisions in litigated cases because they are minors or incapacitated adults.  For background, see our prior post. Senate Bill 1279, effective January 1, 2023, clarifies and improves the rules governing the selection of guardians ad litem, … Continue Reading

Anti-Isolation Restraining Orders Available in 2023

[Editor’s Note: This post was revised on January 11, 2023 after the implementing Judicial Council forms became available.] California trust and estate disputes often include claims that one or more family members have isolated or are isolating an elder for financial gain.  For example, Brother may have difficulty communicating with Mother and blame Sister for … Continue Reading

Section 850 Petitions Can’t Be Used to Obtain a Fiduciary’s Documents

What pea is in which pod?  California probate disputes often involve questions of property ownership.  Petitions filed under Probate Code section 850 allow judges to determine whether and to what extent an estate is the true owner of specified property. Yet how far can Section 850 petitions be stretched?  In Parker v. Schwarcz (2022) 84 … Continue Reading

Judgments Should Name Fiduciaries in Their Representative Capacities

When an administrator (or executor) of a California estate is named in a judgment, the attorney drafting the judgment must be careful.  A person who acts in a representative capacity should be identified that way in the judgment – otherwise, the attorney may have to pursue a costly fix. A recent probate case from San … Continue Reading

Court of Appeal Caps Pretrial Attachment in Financial Elder Abuse Cases

Plaintiffs who sue for financial elder abuse run the risk that defendants will spend ill-gotten gains before they can be recovered.  To address this problem, the California Legislature gave plaintiffs the opportunity to “attach” or freeze assets at the outset of a case. The Court of Appeal, in Royals v. Lu (2022) 81 Cal.App.5th 328, … Continue Reading

Late Trust Contest May Trigger Enforcement of No Contest Clause

No contest clauses generally are not enforceable against beneficiaries of California trusts when there is “probable cause” to challenge the trust instrument. Yet the probable cause safe harbor may disappear if the contest is untimely.  That’s the upshot of Meiri v. Shamtoubi (2022) 81 Cal.App.5th 606, a Court of Appeal opinion issued last week. An … Continue Reading

And the Rocket’s Red Glare – Trustee Removal Petitions May Be Costly to Those Who Launch Them

Trustee removal petitions, like Centennial Fountains, are one of the more common fireworks in California trust litigation.  We’ve explored how such petitions are litigated in prior post and a podcast. In Bruno v. Hopkins (2022) 79 Cal.App.5th 801, the California Court of Appeal broke new ground by finding that a beneficiary who in bad faith … Continue Reading

Employing Caregivers and Advising Those Who Do – A Podcast with Bob King

Families often pay straight hourly wages to in home caregivers.  But paying $18 an hour to a caregiver for a twelve hour shift may end up costing the family much more.  As noted in a prior post, California law classifies in home caregivers as employees and they must be paid in accord with wage and … Continue Reading

Who Protects the Interests of Children in Trust Disputes?

California trust disputes often involve the interests of parents and their minor children.  Sometimes those interests conflict.  When disputes are settled, who looks out for the interests of children under 18 years of age?  Who checks that no child is left behind? Probate judges, as explained in a prior post, may appoint a guardian ad … Continue Reading

Elder Abuse Restraining Orders May Prevent Estate Planning Changes

Can a California court stop others from changing an elder’s estate plan?  Yes, in extreme circumstances, suggests a case arising from conflict in a blended family over which side would benefit from an elder’s trust. In White v. Wear (2022) 76 Cal.App.5th 24, the Court of Appeal reviewed the issuance of an elder abuse restraining … Continue Reading

Are an Estate Planner’s Notes Protected by the Attorney Work Product Doctrine?

California law is surprisingly unclear as to whether the notes of an estate planning attorney are protected from discovery by the attorney work product doctrine.  This can become a big issue in a will or trust contest when the attorney’s files may contain pivotal evidence as to the client’s intent, mental capacity and/or vulnerability to … Continue Reading

Final Ethics Opinion Guides Lawyers on Clients with Diminished Capacity

We wrote last July about a draft California ethics opinion regarding clients who may have diminished mental capacity. After receiving public comment, the State Bar’s Standing Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct has now finalized Formal Opinion Number 2021-207, which is close in content to the earlier opinion.… Continue Reading

“Predatory Marriage” Podcast

Vulnerable elders too often fall victim to predators who marry them for financial gain. But how should we balance the fundamental right to marry and enjoy companionship with protecting elders from financial abuse? Attorney Ellen McKissock, a California thought leader on predatory marriage, spoke with me on Trust Me!, the podcast of the Trusts and Estates Section of … Continue Reading

Blast from the Past – Trusts Subject to Medi-Cal Reimbursement

We begin the year with a case, Riverside County Public Guardian v. Snukst (2022) ___ Cal.App.5th ___, involving an elder with dementia who received Medi-Cal benefits. The case, a blast from the past, illustrates how the State of California, under the law in effect until several years ago, could recoup the cost of such benefits … Continue Reading

Another Broad Reading of the Elder Abuse Act Protects Seniors

We “ring” in 2022 with a recent case that again shows the long reach of statutory financial elder abuse claims in California trust and estate litigation. In Ring v. Harmon (2021) ___ Cal.App.5th ___, the Court of Appeal considered an alleged loan scheme to drain equity out of a house held in a probate estate. … Continue Reading

Assembly Bill 1194 – How Will “Free Britney” Impact California Lawyers and Courts?

Assembly Bill 1194, approved by Governor Newsom on September 30, 2021, tightens oversight of California conservators, especially those licensed by the Professional Fiduciaries Bureau. The bill expands the duties of California courts with respect to conservatorships, though some reforms depend upon funding in future legislation.  With a projected budget surplus, and keen public interest in … Continue Reading

Should “Dutiful Children” and “Dutiful Spouses” Be Exempt from the Undue Influence Presumption?

California trust and estate disputes often feature claims by one sibling that another gained a larger share by unduly influencing a parent. When there are factors suggesting undue influence, who should bear the burden of proof? The disfavored sibling or the favored one? Florida courts have decided that dutiful children, and spouses, should not be … Continue Reading

Making Peace in Mediation – A Conversation with Daniel Spector

Daniel Spector has litigated trust and estate cases in Northern California since the early 1990s. He is now focusing his practice on mediating trust and estate disputes across California, working with Judicate West. Dan is a colleague on the Executive Committee of the Trusts and Estates Section of the California Lawyers Association, and I thank … Continue Reading

Fraud Claims May Reopen Court-Approved Accountings

Even a court order approving an accounting may not protect a California fiduciary if the accounting is inaccurate. That’s the upshot of Hudson v. Foster (2021) 68 Cal.App.5th 640, a recent California Court of Appeal decision involving a conservatorship. The conservatee in this case consented to the conservator’s account and four years passed before the … Continue Reading

Zach Young, Second Generation Fiduciary, Helps Families with Transitions

Zachary Young is a private professional fiduciary with CMY Fiduciary Services in Sacramento.  His mother, Carolyn M. Young, began work as a fiduciary in 1986.  Zach received his bachelor’s degree in business and communications at Sacramento State University.  Zach joined his mother and sister, Lindsay Bowman, in the fiduciary business.  In 2012, he received his … Continue Reading
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