Partner Stefan O’Grady continues to shape the conversation around capacity issues in trusts and estates through his recent article featured in Estate Planning, a Thomson Reuters journal. Known for its rigorous analysis and practical guidance for estate‑planning professionals nationwide, Estate Planning has long served as a leading publication for attorneys seeking to stay current on legal developments, standards, and best practices across the field. O’Grady’s contribution, “Capacity and the Potential Consequences of Getting It Wrong for Estate Planning Attorneys: A Litigator’s Perspective,” offers readers a thoughtful examination of California’s capacity standards and the ethical obligations estate planners must keep in mind when assessing a client’s ability to execute binding documents. His perspective is rooted in more than fifteen years of probate litigation experience, bringing clarity and real‑world context to an issue that can have significant legal repercussions.
By blending doctrinal analysis with practical insight, O’Grady highlights how missteps in evaluating capacity can expose estate planners to avoidable conflict while jeopardizing a client’s true intentions. His article serves as a bridge between the planning and litigation communities, underscoring where preventive decisions intersect with courtroom realities.
Reflecting on the publication, O’Grady shared, “Capacity is often the determining factor on which the viability of an estate plan turns, and it’s essential that attorneys approach assessing a potential client’s capacity with both precision and care. I’m grateful for the opportunity to contribute to Thomson Reuter’s Estate Planning Journal and to help further the discussion on an issue that affects so many practitioners and clients alike.”
