Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

Revocable Living Trusts

Our mother had died and left a revocable living trusts which was amended 3 times. In the first 2 lvng trusts i was a trustee and my children was the beneficiaries to her estate. my brother who came to US from canada for the first time with a tourist visa came to visit our mother because at that time she had colon cancer and she was 80 years old. during his visit he stayed with her. to make this short, she made my brother POA to handle her assets and when our mother passed away, the 3rd amendment was done to leave everything to my brother and to his family and nothing to us. we had no knowledge that during his visit here with us that he and my mother had already made some changes on the living trusts. she has her signatures and so the documents were valid. leaving nothing to my children. i would like to seek justice, because i feel that my brother undue influence our mother to give everything to him and nothing to us. we have a lawyer and said that taking it to trial will be costly and chances we might not win. we dont have witnesses, but supporting documents we found at her home. because my mother was private.


Asked on 5/03/07, 9:27 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Jeb Burton The Burton Law Firm

Re: Revocable Living Trusts

The attorney you spoke to was correct, it is extremely difficult to prove undue influence, it's costly, and the lack of supporting documents makes it even worse. This is not to say you should not pursue it if you have a good case, and the surrounding circumstances lean towards undue influence.

I am a little confused by your statement that "when my mother passed away, the 3rd amendment was done..." her trust most likely could not have been amended after your Mother's death, but you should speak to your attorney about that. Do listen to your attorney though, these are difficult to win but if he feels confident than there must be additional information that ways in your favor.

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Answered on 5/04/07, 12:16 pm


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