Tag: Alzheimer’s Disease

Mental Capacity Standards in California Civil Litigation

What mental capacity standards apply in California civil litigation? Last month we presented on this subject at the Placer County Bar Association’s annual spring conference in Roseville. I’ll offer highlights here. Short answer: it depends. The mental capacity standard varies depending on the setting. The policy rationale for the different standards is elusive, so as … Continue Reading

Stepmother vs. Stepchild, Now Playing in a California Probate Court Near You

By Jeffrey S. Galvin on April 23, 2018 Posted in Bank Trust Departments, Conflict Avoidance, Conservatorships, Divorce, Private Professional Fiduciaries, Trust Administration

Stepmothers are frequent characters in California trust and estate litigation, as they are in fairy tales and Disney movies. With about half of all marriages ending in divorce, there are many stepmother/stepchild relationships. Mostly they work out fine, but some go south. After blogging on sibling conflicts as a driver of trust and estate disputes, … Continue Reading

Look! Up in the Sky! It’s Sibling Lawyer!

By Jeffrey S. Galvin on September 5, 2017 Posted in Advance Health Care Directives, Asset Distribution, Conflict Avoidance, Inheritance Disputes, Trust Administration

I’m a sibling lawyer. My career started early, as a middle child, and now continues as a Sacramento-based trust and estate litigation attorney. Most of my clients are grappling with sisters or brothers over the care and finances of aging or deceased parents. In Family Feud parlance, my “survey says” that sibling versus sibling is … Continue Reading

Look for Mild Cognitive Impairment in California Trust and Estate Disputes

By Jeffrey S. Galvin on July 10, 2017 Posted in Mental Capacity, Undue Influence, Will/Trust Contests

Mental incapacity and undue influence are the most common theories used to try to invalidate wills, trusts and beneficiary designations in California and elsewhere. Occasionally, the subject in a trust and estate dispute has a thorough cognitive evaluation performed contemporaneously with his or her estate planning change. But, more often than not, the medical record … Continue Reading

Constructive Trusts Can Catch Wayward Trust Assets

By Jeffrey S. Galvin on May 15, 2017 Posted in Asset Distribution, Trust Administration

Trustees in California trust disputes should not overlook the power of the constructive trust remedy as a way to recover errant trust assets. That’s a takeaway from Higgins v. Higgins (2017) 11 Cal.App.5th 648, an opinion in a trust litigation case published last week by the California Court of Appeal. A Los Angeles Superior Court trial … Continue Reading

Rapid Increase in Sacramento Conservatorship Cases

By Jeffrey S. Galvin on April 17, 2017 Posted in Conservatorships, Sacramento County Superior Court

New conservatorship cases in Sacramento County Superior Court have risen sharply over the past three years. Judge Steven M. Gevercer, who presides in Department 129 (the Probate Division), presented startling numbers at a March 21, 2017 lunch of the Sacramento County Bar Association’s Probate and Estate Planning Section. The panelists, including the judge and veteran … Continue Reading

Watch Out for Tax Issues When Paying California Caregivers

By Jeffrey S. Galvin and Anna L. Padgett on January 31, 2017 Posted in Estate Administration, Home Care Aides, Trust Administration

Hired caregivers (also known as home care aides) permit many California seniors to remain in their homes as they age and need assistance with activities of daily living. Yet from my window looking out at Sacramento, I can see massive liability associated with the classification and payment of such workers. Consider that baby boomers are … Continue Reading

Sacramento Trust and Probate Litigation “Boot Camp” Program

By Jeffrey S. Galvin on September 26, 2016 Posted in Mental Capacity, Sacramento County Superior Court, Undue Influence, Will/Trust Contests

The Sacramento County Bar Association’s Probate and Estate Planning Section hosted its first ever “boot camp” program on trust and estate litigation on September 20, 2016. As an alternative to the monthly lunch programs, the Section offered a six-hour seminar at its office at 425 University Avenue in Sacramento. The program drew a full house … Continue Reading

Parent Custody Battles Leave Everyone Bruised

By Jeffrey S. Galvin on June 27, 2016 Posted in Advance Health Care Directives, Conservatorships, Financial Powers of Attorney, Mental Capacity, Undue Influence, Will/Trust Contests

Most California trust and estate disputes are emotionally intense, and none more so than sibling conflicts over the care of an aging parent. Like a child custody fight in the family law context, siblings battle over whether Mom will remain in the home where she lives, move in with one of them, or move to … Continue Reading

“You Don’t Have to Be Rich” to Need a Plan

By Jeffrey S. Galvin on May 16, 2016 Posted in Advance Health Care Directives, Asset Distribution, Inheritance Disputes, Probate, Will/Trust Contests

Prince died in April 2016 without a will or trust, according to documents recently filed by his sister in the Carver County District Court in Minnesota. Perhaps a will or trust will surface eventually, as occurred with Michael Jackson’s estate. However, the revelation in “The Morning Papers” that Prince died intestate (legalese for no will … Continue Reading

Alzheimer’s Disease Requires a Close Look in California Trust Litigation

By Jeffrey S. Galvin on May 9, 2016 Posted in Inheritance Disputes, Mental Capacity, Undue Influence, Will/Trust Contests

For a richly-detailed profile of a woman’s experience with Alzheimer’s disease, read “Fraying at the Edges,” an article by N. R. Kleinfield that appeared on May 1, 2016 in the New York Times. The author follows Geri Taylor, who was first diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Impairment in 2012 at age 69, and introduces us to … Continue Reading

You May Have to Challenge Mom’s Trust Amendment Before She Dies

By Jeffrey S. Galvin on January 11, 2016 Posted in Conservatorships, Inheritance Disputes, Mental Capacity, Will/Trust Contests

Most will and trust contests in California start several months after the death of the person who created the document. Such litigation has a forensic quality: did Mom have sufficient mental capacity back when she signed the will/trust, or was she the victim of undue influence? Mom is not around to testify as to what … Continue Reading

Court of Appeal Clips Sterling

By Tyson E. Hubbard on December 7, 2015 Posted in Appeal, Mental Capacity, Trust Revocation, Trustee Removal

The California Court of Appeal blocked Donald Sterling’s last second shot at undoing the sale of the Los Angeles Clippers. Donald sought to overturn the results of an eight day trial that occurred in July 2014. The opinion, issued on November 16, 2015, should be of interest to settlors, trustees, and beneficiaries of “ordinary” trusts … Continue Reading

The Rising Tide of Trust and Estate Litigation

By Jeffrey S. Galvin on December 1, 2015 Posted in Beneficiaries, Inheritance Disputes, Trust Administration

Inheritance fights are nothing new, nor is public fascination with them. Charles Dickens published Bleak House in 1853, satirizing the English legal system in the context of the fictional case of Jarndyce v. Jarndyce. More recently, John Grisham’s Sycamore Row, released in 2013, was at the top of the New York Times best seller list. … Continue Reading

Welcome to our trust and estate litigation blog. Inheritance disputes are on the rise nationally as the baby boomers age and wealth passes from one generation to the next. This is high stress litigation, often pitting sibling against sibling or second spouse against step-children.

We cover hot button issues in California trust litigation and probate litigation, ranging from the flash points that we see in our cases to recent developments in the field. We discuss trust contests, will contests, and administration disputes. We explore issues of mental capacity, undue influence, fiduciary duty, and financial elder abuse. We follow how California courts grapple with dementia attributed to Alzheimer’s disease, which is becoming more prevalent in our population. We comment on local court practices, including procedures in Department 129 (the probate unit) of Sacramento County Superior Court. We hope that our blog will be of interest to estate planning professionals and to family members immersed in trust and estate disputes. We invite you to follow our blog and to get to know us through our posts.

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