Case Concerns Trial Court Authority To Award Fees/Costs To Appointed Attorneys For Proposed Conservatees. This next case, Conservatorship v. Hilton, Case No. B267076 (2d Dist., Div. 2 Feb. 7, 2017) (unpublished), likely is of interest to probate/conservatorship attorneys. The Los Angeles County Superior court has a program to appoint experienced probate attorneys […]
However, Fees Can Only Be Imposed Against Beneficiaries’ Trust Shares, Not Imposed Personally Against Them. Driving nail in coffin. May, 1918. Library of Congress. Pizarro v. Reynoso, Case No. C077594 (3d Dist. Jan. 18, 2017) (published) is a situation where a probate court imposed attorney’s fees against beneficiaries after finding the litigants
$26,630 Fee Award Reversed On Appeal. A fertile ground for an appeal in the fee area is that the pertinent attorney’s fees clause simply does not allow for a fee recovery based on its wording where parol evidence is not introduced (and it rarely is in fee disputes). Kiwata v. Kiwata, Case Nos.
Losing Co-Trustee Had Reasonable Bases To Challenge Beneficiary’s Accounting Objections. In Levy v. Jones, Case No. G051661 (4th Dist., Div. 3 Oct. 25, 2016) (unpublished), one beneficiary/co-trustee successfully obtained a $25,000 attorney’s fees award against another co-trustee based on objections to the trustee’s accounting. The appellate court, in a 3-0 decision authored by
Probate Court Has Broad Equitable Powers To Award Fees In Trust Challenges. In Tyler v. Davis, Case No. D069463 (4th Dist., Div. 1 Sept. 21, 2016) (unpublished), a trust beneficiary and a named trustee were awarded $140,000 in attorney’s fees by a probate court after defeating challenges by other trust beneficiaries based on
Probate—Corman v. Corman, Case No. B251513 (2d Dist., Div. 7 Aug. 29, 2016) (Unpublished)—Partial Beneficiary Success Did Not Justify Fee Award. In this first one, there was a nasty probate fight (I guess one could conjecture whether any are other than nasty) over trust accountings, which pitted the trustees against beneficiaries in most
Shelton v. Larson, Case No. G050935 (4th Dist., Div. 3 July 13, 2016) (Unpublished). In this first one, trustee’s fees and attorney’s fees incurred by trustee were denied altogether in disputes with trust beneficiaries, further complicated by the fact that the probate court never determined the trustee engaged in willful misconduct or gross
Case Involved Renowned Interior Designer John Patton. This next case involved John Patton, a renowned interior designer, who fell on bad times before he died: according to his housekeeper, he was drunk more than sober during the last sixth months of his life, howled like a dog, and fell down so as to
Costs Only Was The Subject Of The Opinion. In Sheen v. Sheen, Case No. B263952 (2d Dist., Div. 8 May 26, 2016) (unpublished), the 2/8 DCA decided that claimed fees and costs incurred on an appeal could not be sought from persons who were not liable for such costs. Specifically, attorneys were charged
Case Deals With Probate Code Section 3809’s Focus On Conservatee Support Expenses, Not Conservatorship Professional Expenses. On April 16, 2016, we posted on Conservatorship of Bower, a Fourth District, Division 3 decision which was unpublished at the time. It dealt with whether Probate Code section 3809 was a proper vehicle to award conservatorship
