The Duty of Loyalty

  • Disloyal Trustees = beneficiary abuse

Every Trustee has a duty of loyalty (California Probate Code section 16002). The duty of loyalty requires the Trustee to administer the Trust solely in the interests of the beneficiaries. That term “solely” really makes the point—there can be no other reason to act when administering a Trust

No More Money!-2

It is not uncommon for one child out of many to receive gifts from a parent during the parent’s lifetime.  And as you might imagine, the other children who do NOT receive equal gifts are none too happy about it.

So naturally, once a parent dies the siblings attempt to reduce the gift-receiving

Mediation Maze-5

The process of mediation.

There is NO such thing as a short mediation. Mediations work because of the time it takes to conduct the negotiations. The longer the process takes, the more likely you are to settle.

It is a bit like percolating coffee, it takes time to do it right. You cannot rush

Mediation Maze-2

The process of mediation.

Mediation is a process, a process you can use to reach a successful resolution in your case, but only if you understand how the process works. So many people fail to maximize what they can get out of their case by failing to understand the mediation process to begin with.

Quality Matters!

When exactly did we lose sight of quality? In our fast paced world, we often expect things (1) cheaply, and (2) quickly. That works great for fast food and cheap electronics, but not so well for professional services. If you need a heart transplant do you want the cheapest, fastest surgeon? Or would you