Cases: Probate

POOF!, Probate: Four Successor Trustees’ Attorney’s Fees Of $74,824.50 Went POOF! Based Upon Failure To Show One Beneficiary Petition Was Prosecuted In Bad Faith And With No Differentiation Of Fees Between Two Petitions

Cases: POOF!, Cases: Probate

Trustees Failure To File A Respondents’ Brief Sealed The Result!             A beneficiary filing two petitions concerning two qualified personal residence trusts likely was shocked when a probate court granted $74,824.50 in attorney’s fees to four successor trustees after beneficiary voluntarily dismissed petitions after obtaining some desired results.  Beneficiary did well to appeal in Sterne […]

Prevailing Party, Probate: Appellate Court’s Reversal Of A Probate Court Asset Characterization Required A Reexamination Of Whether Trustee’s Attorney’s Fees Were Proper Because She Was Really The Prevailing Party

Cases: Prevailing Party, Cases: Probate

A Re-Do Was Ordered To Be Done By The Trial Judge In The First Instance.             In Placencia v. Strazicich, Case No. G055631 (4th Dist., Div. 3 Nov. 26, 2019) (published), our local Santa Ana appellate court reversed a trial judge’s characterization of bank account funds which had led the lower court to award attorney’s

Probate: Beneficiary’s Continuous Bad Faith Objections To Trustee’s Activities and Accountings Cost Him A Surcharge Of $153,245.25 In Attorneys Fees and $11,339.79 In Costs

Cases: Probate

Beneficiary’s Contention That Trial Court Erred In Concluding His Objections Were Made In Bad Faith Was Not Supported With Evidence Or Authority.             In Ettinger v. Gaskin, Case No. B287857 (2d Dist., Div. 3 November 4, 2019) (unpublished), two brothers, Roger and Arnold, were beneficiaries to their parents’ trust.  After their father passed, their

Experts, Probate: First District Affirms $24,755.60 Expert Costs Award And $180,285.25 Fees Award, Which Included $8,245 In Fees On Fees, To Defendants Successfully Contesting Decedent’s New Will

Cases: Probate

Plaintiff Seeking To Probate New Will Was Decedent’s Long-Time Attorney Friend Who Drafted And Benefited From New Will.             A person challenging the validity of a will on the grounds of undue influence or lack of testamentary capacity bears the burden of proof under Probate Code § 8252(a).  This burden shifts, under Probate Code §

Appealability, Probate: Trustee’s Attorney’s Appeal Of Order Denying Fees Without Prejudice Was Not A Final Appealable Order

Cases: Appealability, Cases: Probate

Appeal Was Dismissed, But Attorney Could Renew Request In Civil Court.             In Katzen v. Callan, Case No. G055985 (4th Dist., Div. 3 Sept. 23, 2019) (unpublished), the 4/3 DCA—in an opinion authored by Presiding Justice O’Leary—dismissed an appeal by a trustee’s former attorney denying a fee request because the denial was without prejudice.  So,

Probate: Former Trustee Properly Surcharged With Attorney’s Fees For Bad Faith Trustee Conduct Relating To Contesting Accounting Objections/Presenting Unsupported Objections To Successor Trustee’s Accountings

Cases: Probate

However, Lack Of Admissible Evidence Did Require A $78,000 Reduction In The Total Surcharges.             Justice Fybel in Bronson v. Jones, Case No. G055462 (4th Dist., Div. 3 Sept. 13, 2019) (unpublished), except in two respects, affirmed a lower court’s surcharging of a former trustee’s attorney’s fees based on her bad faith conduct as a

Probate: Intestate Estate Co-Administrators/Beneficiaries, Defending An Appeal By Which Distribution Of Assets Denied To Certain Claimed Beneficiaries, Justified Compensation For Appellate Fee Work Incurred By Them

Cases: Probate

Common Fund Doctrine Or Expenses Of Administration Theory Justified Compensation.             In Estate of Ochoa, Case No. A150018 (1st Dist., Div. 2 Aug. 27, 3019) (unpublished), a dispute arose involving intestate inheritance rights between statutory heirs of the decedent and siblings of the decedent’s predeceased spouse erupted, with the probate court determining the estate should

Probate: Where Beneficiary’s Petition For Distribution/Accounting Seen As Driven More By Emotion Than Necessity, Denial Of Attorney’s Fees For Getting Some Results Not Erroneous

Cases: Probate

Probate Court’s Conclusion Of No Bad Faith By Trustee Was Factual And Deferential Standard Meant It Was Held Up On Appeal.             The opinion in Mappus v. Mendonca, Case No. A149974 (1st Dist., Div. 4 June 20, 2019) (unpublished) demonstrates that motives for probate proceedings do make a difference and that a lower court determination

Probate, Substantiation Of Reasonableness Of Fees: Trustee Benefiting Herself, Not The Trust, Not Entitled To Reimbursement Of $500,000 In Attorney’s Fees And Costs In Various Probate Proceedings

Cases: Probate, Cases: Substantiation of Reasonableness of Fees

Besides That, Fee Substantiation Of A Re-created, Severely Redacted Nature Did Not Support Fee Recovery.              Decedent in In re Andersen Family Trust, Case Nos. B286565/B286867 (2d Dist., Div. 4 June 5, 2019) (unpublished) left about $1.3 million in assets to three beneficiaries, one of which was designated as the trustee.  After a to-do on

Probate, Section 1717: Prevailing Trustee Lost Bid Against Sister Beneficiary Because Sister’s Trustee Removal Petition Was Not Brought In Bad Faith And No Contract Provided Fee Entitlement Basis Against Sister Under Civil Code Section 1717

Cases: Probate, Cases: Section 1717

Probate Code Section 15642(d) Was Other Fee Entitlement Basis, But Rejected Below.             In Meyers v. Meyers, Case No. A154912 (1st Dist., Div. 5 May 23, 2019) (unpublished), two sisters—one of which was trustee and other of which a beneficiary along with the trustee sister—got entangled in a battle when trustee sold a property to

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