Tyson E. Hubbard

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Tyson Hubbard is a partner at Downey Brand focusing on trust and estate litigation. He represents institutional and individual clients. For example, he represented University of the Pacific in a dispute in San Joaquin Superior Court involving John Muir’s papers.

Tyson, who grew up on a farm, enjoys helping family members navigate their fiduciary roles as trustees, which is usually an unfamiliar role and often a challenging one. He also advocates for family members who seek to obtain their fair shares as beneficiaries. Tyson works with clients to develop a strategy, and then he stays in close contact with them as he pursues it zealously. (Read more…)

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Play It Again: No Contest Clauses Must Be Referenced In Each California Trust Amendment

By Tyson E. Hubbard and Silvio Reggiardo, III on Posted in Beneficiaries, Estate Planning, No Contest Clauses, Trust Administration
No contest clauses are an ever-evolving area of the probate law in California.  The Court of Appeal further refined the rules governing no contest clauses in a decision issued last week, Aviles v. Swearingen (2017) 16 Cal.App.5th 485.  In brief, in order for a no contest clause to apply to a trust amendment, the no … Continue Reading

When Is a Will Valid in California?

By Tyson E. Hubbard on Posted in Document Execution, Estate Planning, Probate, Will Execution, Will/Trust Contests
Although much wealth passes today through trusts and beneficiary designations, we occasionally handle California probate disputes that turn on the validity of wills, sometimes involving high value estates. The standard practice in California estate planning is for wills to be typewritten and prepared by attorneys, but those steps are not necessary.  A holographic, i.e., handwritten, … Continue Reading

Take It or Leave It: The Perilous Decision of Whether to Violate a No Contest Clause

By Tyson E. Hubbard on Posted in Beneficiaries, Conflict Avoidance, Creditor Claims, Estate Planning, No Contest Clauses, Trust Administration, Will/Trust Contests
One of the most dramatic areas of California trust and estate litigation is no contest clauses.  No contest clauses bring a made-for-tv excitement to the practice of trust and estate law because of the risk of disinheritance.  Yet such clauses are widely misunderstood, even among attorneys.… Continue Reading

Standing Up to Your Siblings: Who Can Bring a Financial Elder Abuse Claim?

By Tyson E. Hubbard on Posted in Conservatorships, Financial Elder Abuse, Guardian Ad Litem, Mental Capacity
While financial elder abuse is a serious problem in California, not just anyone can sue to protect an abused elder.  This is especially true if the elder does not want to bring suit in the first place.  On April 19, 2017, the California Court of Appeal reinforced an important issue related to standing to bring … Continue Reading

Just the FAQs: California Trust and Estate Litigation’s Greatest Hits, Part 1

By Tyson E. Hubbard on Posted in Beneficiaries, Estate Planning, Probate, Trust Administration, Trustees
In our Sacramento trust and estate litigation practice there are several questions that come up over and over again.  In many instances, these questions are the building blocks of our practice that lead to more complicated questions that sometimes require the filing of a lawsuit to answer.  As a starting place, below are some of … Continue Reading

California Trust Litigation 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

By Tyson E. Hubbard on Posted in Beneficiaries, Trust Administration, Trustees
Beneficiaries beware: don’t dive in to trust litigation too quickly.  That lesson was learned the hard way, ironically, by a diving heiress in Williamson v. Brooks (2017) 7 Cal.App.5th 1294.  The California Court of Appeal decision, which related to a trust created by the founder of Kirby Morgan Dive Systems, Inc., addresses the question of … Continue Reading

A Friend Request From The Beyond: California’s New Post-Death Digital Assets Law

By Tyson E. Hubbard on Posted in Estate Administration, Estate Planning, Non-Probate Transfers, Probate, Trust Administration
Next time you schedule an appointment with Downey Brand’s Sacramento office to revise your estate plan you will have a new question to consider: who will manage your Facebook account when you’re gone? Assembly Bill No. 691, which became effective on January 1, 2017, attempts to aid in that process.  It is commonly called the … Continue Reading

Notice of Proposed Action May Quiet Back Seat Driving Beneficiaries

By Tyson E. Hubbard on Posted in Beneficiaries, Conflict Avoidance, Guardian Ad Litem, Trust Administration, Trustees
Acting as a trustee can be a thankless and time consuming job, especially when the reward at the end is nothing more than second-guessing from trust beneficiaries.  In our Sacramento-based trust and estate practice, we represent trustees who have strained relationships with beneficiaries, whether their siblings, step-relatives, or otherwise.  One useful tool to help trustees manage … Continue Reading

Red Alert: California Trust and Estate Litigation on an Ex Parte Basis

By Tyson E. Hubbard on Posted in Placer County Superior Court, Sacramento County Superior Court, San Joaquin County Superior Court, Trust Administration
It’s early in the morning, you’ve only just started your first cup of coffee, and your first few sips of java have not yet percolated your brain into full gear. Suddenly, your cellphone vibrates, a call is coming. You do not recognize the number, but you answer anyway. Hello? You have just been provided notice … Continue Reading

Til Death Do Us Part: California’s New Transfer on Death Deeds

By Tyson E. Hubbard on Posted in Estate Planning, Non-Probate Transfers
California’s new transfer on death deeds (“ToD deeds”) allow for the transfer of real estate upon the occurrence of death without the need for costly estate planning or probate administration. Codified at California Probate Code section 5600 – 5696, the new mechanism may fill a void in the array of estate planning options, but it … Continue Reading

Stepmother Prevails on Accounting Issues at Court of Appeal

By Tyson E. Hubbard on Posted in Accounting, Beneficiaries, Trust Administration
Sometimes stepmothers are just misunderstood. Babbitt v. Superior Court (2016) 246 Cal.App.4th 1135, recently decided by the California Court of Appeal, involves one of the fact patterns that we often see in California trust litigation: children from a decedent’s prior marriage have conflict with their biological parent’s surviving spouse. In other words, after dad passes away, … Continue Reading

Double Damages, Even In Death

By Tyson E. Hubbard on Posted in Probate, Trustees
In addition to bark, the Probate Code can have bite too. Some Probate Code sections have provisions that are punitive in nature and are designed to keep fiduciaries and others dealing with trust property in line. These statutes have sharp teeth. Take, for example, California Probate Code section 859, which concerns property taken from a … Continue Reading

An Accountant and a Lawyer Walk Into a Bar…

By Tyson E. Hubbard on Posted in Accounting, Beneficiaries, Trust Administration
At the Sacramento Estate Planning Council’s 2016 Technical Forum on Tuesday an elderly gentleman sitting next to me said “old accountants never die, they just lose their balance” and “old attorneys just lose their appeal(s).”  Sometimes both happen when an unbalanced accounting results in a lost appeal.  The California Court of Appeal issued a rare … Continue Reading

Fee Fi Fo Fum: Trustee Fees Can Be a Giant Issue in Trust Administration

By Tyson E. Hubbard on Posted in Beneficiaries, Trust Administration, Trustee Fees, Trustees
Trustee fees are common flash points in the administration of family trusts. Trustees may put in hundreds of hours cleaning out and selling the family home, dealing with accountants, lawyers, and realtors, and otherwise working to distribute assets out to the beneficiaries. A diligent trustee provides a valuable service and should be compensated for his … Continue Reading
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