The following summaries are of recent published decisions of the California appellate courts, the Ninth Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court. The summaries are presented without regard to whether Severson & Werson represented a party in the case.
On a prior appeal in the same case, the Court of Appeal had held that Tyler’s judicial defense of the 2007 Amendment to her parents' Trust, an amendment that she had procured through undue influence constituted a direct contest of the Trust and that Tyler lacked probable cause to defendant that amendment. Key v. Tyler (2019) 34 Cal.App.5th 505, 510. … Read More
A special needs trust is one established for a severely disabled person. The trust is designed to supplement public assistance the beneficiary receives without rendering the beneficiary ineligible for that public assistance. This decision holds that the trustee has discretion under a special needs trust to pay for goods and services for the beneficiary that are not supplied by public… Read More
Following Balistreri v. Balistreri (2022) 75 Cal.App.5th 511, this decision holds that if a trust provides a procedure or method for amending the trust, whether phrased as exclusive or optional, any amendment must conform to that procedure or method; otherwise it is invalid. Prob. Code 15402’s “qualification ‘[u]nless the trust instrument provides otherwise’ indicates that if any modification method is… Read More
The trial court correctly surcharged defendant who was trustee of the decedent Pool's trust and held his power of attorney for funds that defendant deposited in a bank account held jointly with Pool rather than in a trust account for the benefit of the trust beneficiaries. By depositing the funds in the joint account, defendant essentially made himself the death… Read More
A lawyer has a duty to a nonclient third party only if the client’s intent to benefit that third party (in the way the third party asserts in their malpractice claim) is “clear,” “certain” and “undisputed.” Signs of the client's intent do not meet that high standard if there is ground for dispute as to whom the client wished to… Read More
Ordinarily, the beneficiary of a revocable trust lacks standing to sue concerning the trust so long as the trustor is alive and can still revoke the trust. However, the beneficiary may still have standing if the trustor is incompetent. To establish standing, the beneficiary need only allege that the trustor is incompetent. Read More
World Services holds intellectual property rights in Narcotics Anonymous' publications as trustee under a trust created by a loose association of Narcotics Anonymous adherents, known as the Fellowship of Narcotics Anonymous. The Autonomous Region sued World Services claiming it breached its fiduciary duties under the trust. This opinion affirms dismissal of the action on the ground that Autonomous Region lacks… Read More
If a trust provides a procedure or method for amending the trust, whether phrased as exclusive or optional, any amendment must conform to that procedure or method; otherwise it is invalid. Prob. Code 15402’s “qualification ‘[u]nless the trust instrument provides otherwise’ indicates that if any modification method is specified in the trust, that method must be used to amend the… Read More
