Los Angeles Trust Attorney
Los Angeles Trust Attorney
Trust litigation requires a high degree of expertise. If you are looking for a Los Angeles trust attorney with the skills and experience to navigate complex trust matters, Keystone Law Group has you covered. Our probate lawyers have a long track record of achieving favorable results for its trust litigation clients. Our attorneys are some of the top in their field and capable of expertly handling any case that comes across their desk, no matter how complicated it may be. Each Los Angeles trust lawyer at our firm is qualified to provide guidance through every step of trust administration. Issues with trusts can be stressful to navigate, but with a trained professional by your side, you can get through them with ease. For a reliable and knowledgeable trust attorney, Los Angeles residents can feel confident turning to Keystone Law Group.
Comprehensive Los Angeles Trust Lawyer Services
Are you a trustee seeking help with the preparation of trust accountings? Do you have questions about whether a trustee can remove a beneficiary from a trust? Does a Petition for Instructions needs to be filed with the court due to ambiguous language in a trust? Does certain property need to be transferred into a trust through an 850 Petition? Does real property held by a trust need to be divided via a partition action? Are you beneficiary who is considering suing the trustee because the trustee is taking too long to release your trust fund distribution? Whatever your needs may be, Keystone’s Los Angeles trust lawyers are available to help.
Counseling Trustees
Trustees have a huge job on their shoulders, and unlike executors and administrators, who are held accountable by the court, trustees only have beneficiaries to hold them accountable. A qualified California trust lawyer can counsel and assist trustees with their trustee duties. They can also provide legal guidance when trust-related decisions need to be made to ensure the trustee stays protected against liability.Accounting Disputes
Trustees are responsible for preparing periodic accountings to provide to beneficiaries and heirs. Depending on the size and complexity of the trust, this can be a burdensome task to take on by oneself. To prevent future accounting disputes, trustees should strongly consider hiring a California trust attorney to check their accountings or prepare them on their behalf.
As for beneficiaries, if an accounting seems off, or if certain trust assets are not accounted for, it is a good idea to hire a California trust lawyer to inspect the accountings for errors or signs of misconduct or negligence on the part of the trustee. If your trust and estate attorney agrees that the accountings are problematic, they can help contest the accountings in court. A California trust attorney can also help trustees defend accountings that are being contested.
Property Disputes
Perhaps the decedent executed a trust but failed to transfer the titles of the property mentioned in the trust into the trust’s name before they died. Perhaps two siblings jointly inherited a house through a trust, and now a partition action must be brought because one sibling wants to sell the home and the other doesn’t.
Anytime the assets held by a trust are the subject of a dispute, a California trust litigation lawyer may be needed to help resolve the dispute.
Trust Contests
Suppose that an adult child moved into the home of their dying parent under the pretense of caring for them, but then, by becoming close to the parent, persuaded them to drastically change their trust to disinherit their other children and make the adult child who moved in the sole beneficiary. Or, suppose that a patient with dementia created and executed a trust. Both of the aforementioned scenarios present valid grounds for contesting a trust.
Trust contests can only be brought for very specific reasons in California (disliking the trust’s provisions is not one of them). And they can only be brought by someone with standing (i.e., a party who has financial stake in the trust). A California trust attorney can assist you with determining whether you have the grounds and standing to contest a trust.
Removal and Surcharge
If you suspect that a trustee is engaged in misconduct or is being negligent with their duties, it is important to get in touch with a California trust attorney as soon as possible to prevent the possibility of more financial harm befalling the trust. If your lawyer agrees with your claims about the trustee, they may be able to enter a petition with the court to remove and surcharge the trustee for the damage they caused to the trust.Elder Abuse Claims
Mental capacity can start to decline at old age, leaving elders susceptible to financial abuse. Often, elder financial abuse takes the form of someone close to an elder unduly influencing the elder or perpetrating fraud against them to cause them to drastically modify their trust to favor their abuser. A California trust lawyer can help investigate and litigate these types of claims to recover the property that was lost and damages. A California trust lawyer can also defend anyone who has been accused of elder financial abuse.
Spouses, Children and Unmarried Couples
If you are the surviving spouse of a decedent, you have certain inheritance rights. In California, which is a community property state, spouses are entitled to one-half of all community property (i.e., property that was acquired over the course of a marriage by either spouse), with certain limited exceptions.
Children are generally not guaranteed an inheritance from their deceased parent, but they still have certain rights as heirs of a decedent. Unmarried cohabiting couples may have inheritance rights as well, but enforcing them may be difficult. Children and unmarried cohabitating partners of decedents should work with a California trust attorney to ensure they receive the inheritance they are due.
Keystone Attorneys Can Expertly Resolve Your Trust Matter
Some of the ways Keystone’s Los Angeles trust lawyers can help with trust matters include:
- Bringing or defending a trust contest;
- Bringing or defending a claim of elder financial abuse;
- Resolving trust property disputes;
- Counseling trustees on their duties;
- Preparing and inspecting trust accountings;
- Enforcing the inheritance rights of spouses, children and unmarried cohabitation couples;
- Filing a petition to remove and surcharge the trustee;
- And much more.
Why Trust Keystone’s Attorneys?
- Certified as Specialists in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law by the State Bar of California’s Board of Legal Specialization
- Routinely recognized by top legal publications, such as Daily Journal, Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers
- Invited to speak on trusts to CPAs and attorneys at professional conferences
- Frequently asked to teach the ins and outs of trusts to law students
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Hire a Los Angeles Trust Attorney You Can Rely On
