I receive several phone calls each week from upset Trust beneficiaries asking if their brother or sister, who is the Trustee of their parents’ Trust, is required to provide copies of the Trust to the beneficiary after both parents have died. The answer is—yes—Trustees are required under California law to provide copies of their parents&rsquo
Beneficiary
Will Capacity vs. Trust Capacity: The Mental Measuring Stick under California Law
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Posted in Lack of Capacity
In order for a person to create a valid Will or Trust they must have “sound mind.” The term “sound mind” is short hand for a rather complicated set of rules for determining mental capacity. If a person lacks proper mental capacity, then any document they sign is deemed invalid under California law. A person…
Trustee’s Fees Must Be Reasonable and for the Benefit of the Trust–Not the Benefit of the Trustee
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Posted in Trust Administration
Bad trustees always seem to waste trust money defending their improper actions. Once a trust beneficiary challenges a trustee’s improper actions (breaches of trust), the trustee retaliates against the beneficiary. For example, the trustee may choose to suspend current monthly distributions, or in more extreme cases, attempt to have a no contest clause in a…
The Practical Considerations for Including a No Contest Clause in a Trust or Will
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Posted in No Contest Clauses
In an earlier post we discussed the terrorizing effects of no contest clauses. For all the uncertainty the new no contest law has created—and the very real possibility that such clauses are rarely enforceable—many decedent’s doom the effectiveness of their own no contest clause themselves when including a no contest clause in their will or…
The Terrorizing Effects of No Contest Clauses
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No contest clauses were originally referred to as “In Terrorem” clauses. In Terrorem is Latin for “To Scare the Pants off my Beneficiaries”—loosely translated. And that’s what a no contest clause is supposed to do, prevent a trust or will contest by disinheriting a beneficiary who dares to contest the terms of the instrument.
California…