If you are facing a dispute over a will, trust, or estate in California, you may wonder what to expect in a lawsuit. Trust and estate litigation in California includes lawsuits related to legal disputes over wills, trusts, and estate plans. These disputes can arise when interested parties, those with a potential stake in the case’s outcome, disagree over what documents mean or how to carry them out.
At Geremia & Cullen, PC, we help clients throughout California navigate trust and estate lawsuits. We focus on the legal case, the emotional case, and the process, offering honest, attentive guidance along the way. We offer contingency representation, where you only pay us if you recover damages, in appropriate cases, like those involving significant potential recovery.
What Is Estate Planning?
Estate planning involves creating legal documents to prepare for the unexpected and explain how to distribute someone’s property when they die. These documents often include:
- A will;
- One or more trusts;
- Health and financial powers of attorney; and
- Advance health care directives, like a living will.
Effective estate planning helps make transferring property after death smoother, more efficient, and more organized.
An “estate” typically includes everything a person owns when they die, such as:
- Real estate, personal property, and bank accounts;
- Investment accounts, business interests, and digital assets; and
- Debts, liabilities, and other financial obligations.
Trusts often play a large role in estate planning. A trust is a legal arrangement where one person (the trustee) manages assets to benefit others (beneficiaries). The person who creates the trust is called the settlor or grantor. Trusts can serve many different purposes, from asset protection to providing for minor children or loved ones with special needs to making the estate transfer process more efficient.
Trusts and Estates Litigation
While every case is different, most trusts and estates litigation cases involve:
- Working with an attorney who investigates, gathers records, and interviews witnesses to evaluate the strength of the claim;
- Filing legal paperwork (a petition) outlining your claims and how you want the court to resolve the case;
- Possible court hearings to address procedural issues;
- Discovery, where both sides exchange information and evidence;
- Mediation, an alternative dispute resolution process before a neutral third party, who helps the sides try to resolve the dispute outside of court; and
- Potential trial if the parties cannot reach a settlement.
Trust and estate litigation in California uses the probate court system to resolve these conflicts. A judge oversees these legal disputes, which can last from several months to several years. Yet, most disputes settle outside the courtroom, often using time- and cost-saving processes like mediation.
Who Has the Right to Sue?
In the context of trusts and estates, only interested parties can typically file legal claims. Interested parties include:
- Heirs at law, family members who inherit under California law if there is no valid will;
- Beneficiaries;
- Disinherited children or spouses;
- Creditors; and
- Co-trustees or successor trustees.
This limitation means that individuals involved in trusts and estates litigation necessarily have some direct stake in the case outcome.
How Does Probate Work?
Probate is the legal process of managing and distributing a person’s estate after they die. It begins when someone, usually the executor in the will, files initial paperwork with the probate court. After the court appoints a personal representative, an executor or administrator, the representative:
- Identifies, gathers, and inventories assets and debts;
- Notifies creditors and pays valid debts and taxes out of the estate; and
- Distribute the remaining assets.
Estate litigation can involve existing probate cases, so you typically file paperwork with that case rather than creating a new one.
What Is Estate Litigation?
Estate litigation involves legal disputes related to estate administration. Disputes often relate to a will or how the estate’s personal representative is managing the estate.
Common claims related to wills include:
- Undue influence. Someone pressured the deceased to create a new will or change their will to benefit themselves.
- Lack of capacity. The deceased did not understand what they were doing when they created the will due to illness or cognitive decline.
- Forgery or fraud. Someone faked, altered, or signed the will under false pretenses.
Estate litigation related to the person appointed to administer the estate typically focuses on:
- Asset mismanagement,
- Conflicts of interest,
- Failure to follow the deceased person’s written instructions,
- Lack of communication about estate progress, and
- Delays in administration.
Lawsuits may involve requests to replace the personal representative or to compel them to follow the law.
What Is Trust Litigation?
Trust litigation deals with legal disputes related to a trust, such as:
- Trustee misconduct, like misusing funds, acting in their own interest, or failing to follow trust terms;
- Failure to distribute assets or delayed distribution;
- Lack of transparency about the trustee’s actions; and
- Disputes over changes to trust terms.
Trustees play a similar role to an estate’s personal representative, so people can also seek their removal and replacement.
Not sure what happens in a California estate lawsuit?
Let us walk you through it. We’ll answer your questions, protect your interests, and help you move forward.
What You Can Expect as a Client
If you find yourself involved in a trust or estate dispute, you can expect legal and emotional challenges throughout the process, such as:
- Emotional stress, especially when family members are on opposite sides and longstanding grievances resurface;
- Complicated legal issues;
- Deadlines you need to abide by; and
- High stakes, such as losing your rightful inheritance or damaging important relationships.
To guide you through, your attorney will:
- Clearly explain your rights and options at each stage;
- Handle communication with the opposing party;
- Gather and present compelling evidence;
- Keep you updated at every stage of the case through regular communication; and
- Advise you on realistic outcomes and potential settlements, helping you make informed decisions.
Your attorney is your partner and guide, but we take our cues from you.
We Can Help with Trust and Estate Litigation in California
At Geremia & Cullen, we understand that our clients come to us during some of the most stressful moments of their lives. Many are grieving, angry, or overwhelmed. We meet you where you are and help you move forward.
Our attorneys have years of experience handling trust and estate lawsuits in the Sacramento, CA, area. Contact us today to schedule a consultation.
