Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

Contesting a Trust

My dad past away in Dec. of 2002. My Grandmother who lived in CA. past away in Feb. of 2006. She had a Trust that stated that 1/2 (half) of the Trust would go to my Aunt, and the other 1/2 (half) would go to the 5 grandchildren. The sale of property prior to the death would go to my mom. My Aunt moved my Grandmother to live in a assisted living home closer to my Aunt in the beginning of 2005. My Grandmother was in and out of nursing homes and hospitals beginning in Sep. 2005. My Grandmother was on medications and was in no state to make any decisions. In Oct. 2005 my Aunt became the Executor of the Trust. My Grandmother's sister was the Executor of the Trust from 1997 up until then. On Dec. 22nd of 2005 the Trust was changed to make my Aunt the sole benificiery of the Trust. Can this will be contested, and how would I go about it living in another state? I do not know if this is relavent, but there are 2 different notararies on the last amendment. One for my Grandmothers signature, and another for my Aunts signature. My grandmothers signatures are barely readable from her last amendment that she signed.


Asked on 3/21/06, 12:48 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Matthew Mickelson Law Offices of Matthew C. Mickelson

Re: Contesting a Trust

A challenge to the modifications of the trust based upon incapacity, undue influence, etc. sounds possible, but it may be difficult. Often cases such as this require a lot of attorney work to discover the facts, and correspondingly may cost the challenger a lot of money. You have to consider whether there is enough money in the trust to make such a challenge. If you think that the Aunt will compromise if the trust is challenged, it may be worth it to hire a lawyer, however. Feel free to contact me if you want to discuss this some more.

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Answered on 3/21/06, 1:08 pm


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