Trust and Will Litigation Lawyer for Los Angeles and Orange County

A trust or will is a promise backed by law. When the person in charge ignores it, hides the money, or the document itself was changed under pressure, the probate court can force the issue. Fred Yadegar represents beneficiaries, heirs, and trustees in trust and will disputes across Los Angeles County and Orange County.

Your rights as a beneficiary

You do not have to take a trustee’s word for anything. Current beneficiaries have the right to be kept reasonably informed about the trust and its administration (Prob. Code §16060), to receive information about the terms and assets on request (§16061), and to an accounting at least once a year, when the trust ends, and when the trustee changes (§16062). Once the trust is irrevocable, you are entitled to a complete copy of its terms (§16061.5).

A trustee owes you loyalty, impartiality between beneficiaries, and care with the money (Prob. Code §16000 to §16015). The trustee cannot use trust property for personal benefit or take the other side of a transaction with the trust (§16004). Sold the house to a friend below market? Living rent-free in a trust property? Paying himself a management fee no one approved? Those are breaches, not judgment calls.

Petitions under Probate Code §17200

When letters and phone calls fail, the tool is a petition to the probate court under §17200. Through it, Fred can ask the court to:

• Compel an overdue accounting after a written request has gone unanswered for 60 days
• Instruct the trustee on how to interpret and carry out the trust
• Suspend or remove the trustee and appoint a successor (§15642)
• Surcharge the trustee, meaning make them personally repay losses, lost profits, and any gain they took for themselves (§16440)
• Set aside transactions tainted by self-dealing

A petition also puts the trustee on a judge’s calendar, with deadlines that carry consequences.

Contesting a will or trust

A will or trust can be set aside, in whole or in part, on these grounds:

• Lack of capacity. The person did not understand what they were signing, what they owned, or who their family was, or a mental disorder produced delusions that drove the gift (Prob. Code §6100.5).
• Undue influence. Excessive persuasion that overcame the person’s free will and produced an unfair result (Welf. & Inst. Code §15610.70; Prob. Code §86).
• Fraud. Lies about the document or about family members that produced the signature.
• Improper execution. A will without the two witnesses §6110 requires, or a trust amendment that was never signed or delivered the way the trust requires.

Gifts to the drafter, to a fiduciary who transcribed the document, or to a care custodian of a dependent adult are presumed to be the product of fraud or undue influence unless an exception applies (Prob. Code §21380).

Timing matters. A trust contest generally must be filed within 120 days after the trustee serves the §16061.7 notice, or 60 days after you receive the trust terms, whichever is later (§16061.8). A will can be contested before it is admitted to probate, or by a petition to revoke probate within 120 days after admission (§8270). These windows do not pause while a family argues.

No-contest clauses

Many trusts contain a clause disinheriting anyone who challenges them. Under current California law, a no-contest clause is enforceable only against a direct contest brought without probable cause, and in two narrow situations the clause itself must spell out (Prob. Code §21311). A petition to compel an accounting or to remove a trustee for misconduct is not a contest of the document. Fred evaluates the clause before anything is filed.

Elder financial abuse

Many trust disputes are also elder abuse cases. Taking, hiding, or keeping an elder’s property for a wrongful use, with intent to defraud, or by undue influence is financial abuse under Welf. & Inst. Code §15610.30. That statute adds remedies a plain trust claim does not carry, including attorney’s fees and costs (§15657.5). Under Probate Code §859, a person who in bad faith wrongfully takes property from an elder or from a trust can be ordered to pay twice its value.

Representing trustees, and where these cases are heard

Not every accusation is fair. Trustees get sued by siblings who wanted more, by beneficiaries who mistake a slow sale for theft, and by heirs who were properly left out. Fred defends trustees and executors who are doing the job honestly: preparing an accounting the court will accept, responding to petitions, and getting the trustee’s reasonable fees and legal costs paid from the trust where the law allows. A document review at the outset heads off most of these disputes.

Most trust and will disputes settle, and a mediated agreement lets a family decide the outcome instead of a judge. When settlement is not possible, Fred litigates in the probate departments of the Los Angeles and Orange County superior courts, including the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in downtown Los Angeles and the Costa Mesa Justice Complex in Orange County. Probate judges know the difference between a trustee who is behind on paperwork and one who is stealing.

What to do right now

• Write down the date you received any trustee notice, accounting, or copy of the trust
• Send the trustee a dated, written request for the trust, all amendments, and an accounting
• Gather bank statements, deeds, and any earlier versions of the will or trust you can find
• Save texts and emails from the trustee or from the person you believe applied pressure
• Do not sign a release, waiver, or receipt until the numbers have been checked
• Call Fred before the 120-day window closes

Why call Fred

Fred litigates these cases and also drafts trusts, so he knows how a sound document reads and how a weak one gets attacked. He tells you what you can realistically ask the court for, and what it will cost, before you decide anything. Beneficiaries get a lawyer who will not accept silence from a trustee. Trustees get a defender who knows what the judge expects. If you are in Los Angeles County or Orange County, tell us what’s going on and we’ll explain your options and costs before you commit to anything.