Trust contests · Los Angeles
Contesting a trust in Los Angeles
Illustration. Not a real client.
In Los Angeles, the family house is usually in a living trust. That’s why most inheritance fights today are trust fights, and why they move faster than people expect.
A trust contest asks the probate court to set aside a trust, or an amendment to it, because it doesn’t reflect what your parent freely and knowingly wanted. John J. Donahue handles trust contests from his West Los Angeles office and in the probate departments downtown, often on contingency for qualifying cases.
The letter that starts the clock
When a trust becomes irrevocable, usually at death, California requires the trustee to mail a formal notice to the beneficiaries and heirs. It looks routine. It isn’t.
That notice usually tells you that you may not bring an action to contest the trust more than 120 days after it was served, or 60 days after a copy of the trust is delivered to you during that period, whichever is later. After that, the court may never hear your case, however strong it is.
120 days
after the trustee’s formal notice is served
60 days
after a copy of the trust is delivered, if that comes later
If you’ve received a trustee’s notice or a copy of a trust, find the date on it today. Then request a copy of the trust and every amendment in writing, if you haven’t already.
From the calls John gets
The letter in the kitchen drawer
A woman calls with a letter from her brother’s lawyer: the trustee’s notice. It came in March. It’s now late June. She put it in a drawer because it looked like paperwork.
What John looks at: The date it was mailed. The 120 days generally run from the notice, not from the day you read it. If you ask for a copy of the trust within that time, the deadline can move to 60 days after the copy is delivered, if that’s later. Every week counts.
Illustration. Details changed; not a real client. Write the date down: the checklist →
Grounds for a trust contest
The grounds track those for wills:
- Lack of capacity to make or change the trust, judged by what the document asked of the person at the time they signed it.
- Undue influence, especially by a caregiver, a child living in the home, a new spouse or friend, or someone who arranged the lawyer and the signing.
- Fraud, forgery, or a document signed without understanding what it was.
- Improper amendment, where the trust spells out how it may be changed and the change didn’t follow it.
California also presumes some gifts are the product of fraud or undue influence. A gift to the person who drafted the document, or to a care custodian of a dependent adult in certain circumstances, can be presumed invalid unless that person proves otherwise.
Amendments are where most fights live
The original trust is often decades old and fair. The trouble is usually a short amendment near the end: a few pages that change who gets the house, or who serves as trustee. Courts look hard at when it was signed, who was present, the parent’s medical condition that month, and whether the change fits anything the parent said before.
From the calls John gets
“She says she has power of attorney.”
Two sisters are co-trustees of their parents’ trust. One signs the checks, talks to the realtor and the accountant, and tells the other she doesn’t need her okay because she has Mom’s power of attorney.
What John looks at: A power of attorney ends when the person dies. Co-trustees generally have to act together unless the trust says otherwise. When one shuts the other out, the court can give instructions, order an accounting, or change the trustee.
Illustration. Details changed; not a real client. Read a story like this →
When the trustee is the problem
Sometimes the trust is fine and the trustee isn’t. Refusing to account, mixing trust money with their own, selling property cheaply or to friends, or moving into the house rent-free while others wait: those are breach-of-trust claims, and the court can order an accounting, surcharge the trustee, or remove them. Probate litigation →
What it costs
For qualifying trust contests, John works on contingency: no hourly fee up front, a percentage of the recovery set in writing before work begins, and no fee if there’s no recovery. How contingency works →
From the calls John gets
Mom’s new husband
A mother remarried at 78. Two years later her trust was amended to let her husband live in the house for life and then leave it to his children. Her own children found out after she died.
What John looks at: Who introduced the lawyer, whether Mom met with the lawyer alone, and whether the change fits everything she said and did for decades.
Illustration. Details changed; not a real client. Read a story like this →
In families’ own words
What families ask about trusts
I’m shut out of Mom’s trust. What are my rights?
A beneficiary generally has the right to a copy of the trust terms, to be kept reasonably informed about the trust and how it’s run, and to regular accountings. Ask in writing. If the trustee won’t answer, the probate court can order it.
What’s the difference between contesting a trust and suing the trustee?
A contest says the trust, or an amendment to it, isn’t valid. A claim against the trustee says the trust is fine but the person running it isn’t doing the job honestly or carefully. Some families need one, some need both, and the deadlines are different.
I never got a notice. Has the clock started?
The 120 days generally run from the trustee’s notice. If no proper notice was sent, that short deadline may not have started, but other deadlines can still apply. Don’t wait to find out which.
Can the trustee use trust money to fight me?
A trustee can often use trust funds to defend the trust itself, but not to defend their own misconduct or their personal share. Where that line falls is one of the first things John looks at.
Is it worth it if the house is the only thing?
It can be. In Los Angeles the house is usually the largest thing a parent leaves, and who gets it, or where the sale money goes, is exactly what these cases decide.
Contests by place: Los Angeles County · Los Angeles · Santa Monica · Orange County