Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

Re: settle of estate

You are describing a "no contest" clause. There is a lot of uncertainty whether a no contest clause is enforceable in California. The usual course of action is for a lawyer to file a petition with the Court that says, basically "Your Honor, we would like to do xyz. If we did this, we would like a ruling that that is not a contest. Please give us such a ruling."

If the Judge issues a ruling that what you want to do is not a contest, then you file a second petition doing exactly what you asked about in the first petition. You already know it won't be considered a contest (note that I am not saying you know you would win the underlying dispute; I'm only saying it wouldn't be a contest).

Having said that, I believe the relevant statute states that proving undue influence would not trigger the no contest clause.

You need to retain a knowledgeable attorney to assist you with this.

This information is not intended to substitute for professional legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. You should accept legal advice only from a licensed legal professional with whom you have an attorney-client relationship.