Justia Trusts & Estates Opinion Summaries

This case involves a dispute among the grandchildren of decedent Mildred Warnock Hilton concerning the distribution of her estate. The probate court denied probate of Decedent’s purported 1988 will, which meant that her estate would be distributed according to the rules of intestate succession. On de novo appeal to the superior court, the parties stipulated to a bench trial, after which the superior court affirmed the probate court’s decision, ruling that Decedent had revoked her 1988 will and it was not validated by the doctrine of “dependent relative revocation.” The grandchild who offered the 1988 will for probate appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that the superior court lacked subject matter jurisdiction to deny probate of the will without impaneling a jury and also challenging the court’s judgment on the merits. Finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Mosley v. Lancaster" on Justia Law

Pomianowski was 19 years old when she was in an automobile accident which left her a ventilator-dependent quadriplegic. She required total care in all aspects of daily living. A lawsuit filed against the County of Santa Cruz and Ford Motor Company, resulted in a settlement for $3,175,000.00. The court directed that the funds be deposited in a special needs trust (Probate Code sections 3600-3605). At age 23, Pomianowski died, with $1,294,453.23 left in the trust, which was ordered to reimburse the Department of Health Care Services for medical expenses paid on her behalf before her death. The trustee argued that the assets were exempt from reimbursement rights because the beneficiary was under 55 years of age when the services were provided. The court of appeal affirmed, holding that the Department was entitled to reimbursement under both the Medicaid statute, 42 U.S.C. 1396a, and the statutes and regulations implementing Medicaid through California’s Medi-Cal program. The statutes and regulations do not exempt beneficiaries under age 55, nor is there a public policy reason to shield the trust assets from recovery so that $417, 812.43 spent by the public can pass to the beneficiary’s parents along with the rest of the trust assets. View "Herting v. Cal. Dep;t of Health Care Servs." on Justia Law

This dispute concerned injuries sustained by Steven Johnson when he fell off a haystack while helping his father feed cattle on property owned by the Dale C. and Helen W. Johnson Family Revocable Trust. Steven and his wife (together, Appellants) sued the Trust, a co-trustee, and a successor co-trustee (collectively, Appellees), claiming that Appellees were negligent in a number of respects. The district court granted summary judgment for Appellees, concluding that the Trust owed Steven no duty of care. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that even if the Trust owed Steven the duty to exercise reasonable care, the negligence claim could not survive because no reasonable fact finder could conclude that the Trust acted unreasonably or breached a duty to Steven. View "Johnson v. Dale C. & Helen W. Johnson Family Revocable Trust" on Justia Law

Brunton sued her brother, Kruger, as trustee of the trusts established by their late parents and as representative of their estates, and individual family members. Brunton, who was not named a beneficiary of the trusts, alleged undue influence and her mother’s diminished capacity. The elder Krugers had consulted with an accounting firm (Striegel) for estate planning. They provided Striegel with confidential information about their family, income, assets, and goals. Striegel provided information to the attorney who prepared the Krugers’ trust documents and wills. Brunton and the Estates issued subpoenas seeking discovery of the information and documents. A CPA at Striegel complied with the Estates’ subpoenas, but did not provide the documents to Brunton. Striegel invoked the Illinois Public Accounting Act (225 ILCS 450/27), governing confidentiality of records. The circuit court ordered Striegel to produce tax documents, but held that the estate planning documents were privileged. Brunton then issued deposition subpoenas to a Striegel CPA and a non-CPA employee, seeking production of the estate planning documents. The court again found the estate planning documents privileged, but held that Striegel had waived the privilege by providing the documents to the representative of the Estates. The appellate court and Illinois Supreme Court affirmed. The privilege belongs to the accountant, not the client, and there is no testamentary exception to the privilege, but the accountant waived the privilege by disclosing information to one party. He cannot claim the privilege to avoid disclosure of the same information to the other party. View "Brunton v. Kruger" on Justia Law

This case centered on a dispute between appellant Shalanda Sanders (née Riley) and her purported biological half-brother, appellee Curtis Riley over the estate of Clifford "Colonel" Riley, who died without leaving a will. Shalanda claims the right to inherit from Mr. Riley as a child born during the marriage of her mother and Mr. Riley and, alternatively, based on the equitable doctrine known as "virtual adoption." Curtis filed a motion for partial summary judgment on the issue of virtual adoption, arguing that there is insufficient evidence of an agreement by Mr. Riley to adopt Shalanda and the required partial performance of that agreement. The trial court granted Curtis’s motion. In doing so, however, the court did not view the evidence and draw reasonable inferences from it in the light most favorable to Shalanda as the party opposing summary judgment, and genuine issue as to any material fact regarding virtual adoption. The court also misinterpreted the requirement of partial performance of the agreement to adopt and erroneously concluded that an established virtual adoption can be undone by showing that the child formed a relationship with her natural father after she learned of his existence when she was a teenager. Accordingly, the Supreme Court reversed the grant of partial summary judgment to Curtis. View "Sanders v. Riley" on Justia Law

Rebecca Breaux brought an age discrimination action against her employer ASC Industries on May 6, 2012. On May 24, 2013, Breaux’s attorney Lurlia Oglesby filed a statement in accordance with Rule 25(a)(3) noting that Breaux had died. The district court stayed the action pending the substitution of parties. After the ninety days allotted for the substitution of a party passed without any motion being filed, ASC Industries moved for the action to be dismissed. On the next business day, September 3, 2013, the district court granted ASC Industries’ motion to dismiss. On October 1, 2013, Oglesby filed a motion on behalf of Breaux’s estate to alter or amend the judgment of dismissal. The issue this case presented for the Fifth Circuit's centered on whether personal service of a suggestion of death on a deceased-plaintiff’s estate was required in order for the ninety-day time limit to run for the substitution of a party under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure ("Rule") 25. The Court held that personal service was required. View "Sampson v. ASC Industries" on Justia Law

Daniel Ukkestad, co-trustee of the Larry Gene Mabee Revocable Trust, appealed a probate court order denying his petition to confirm that two parcels of real property are part of the Trust's assets. After review, the Court of Appeal concluded that the probate court erred in denying the petition, and accordingly reversed the probate court's order and remand with directions that the probate court enter an order granting the petition. View "Ukkestad v. RBS Asset Finance, Inc." on Justia Law

Before he died, the Decedent transferred two quarter sections of Indian trust land located in Tripp County, South Dakota, to his son. The Decedent’s estate (the Estate) filed this action arguing that the Decedent lacked the requisite mental capacity or was unduly influenced by his son when he transferred the land. Specifically, the Estate requested that the court compel the Decedent’s son to make application to the Secretary of the Interior for the transfer of the Indian trust property to the Estate. The circuit court denied the Estate’s request and dismissed the action, determining that it lacked subject matter jurisdiction over the parcels held in trust by the United States. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the circuit court did not have jurisdiction over the subject matter of this case. View "Ducheneaux v. Ducheneaux" on Justia Law

At issue in this case was the extent to which a bankruptcy estate may reach a beneficiary’s interest in a spendthrift trust that consists entirely of payments from principal under the Probate Code of the state of California. The beneficiary claimed that Cal. Prob. Code 15306.5 caps the bankruptcy estate’s access at twenty-five percent of his trust interest. The bankruptcy trustee sought to reach more than twenty-five percent of the beneficiary’s interest under Cal. Prob. Code 15301(b) and 15307, which it argued was not subject to the section 15306.5 cap. The bankruptcy court ruled in favor of the beneficiary, concluding that section 15306.5 establishes an “absolute maximum cap on what is recoverable by a judgment creditor at 25 percent.” The Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel (BAP) affirmed. To resolve the issue as to whether a bankruptcy estate may access more than twenty-five percent of a beneficiary’s interest in a spendthrift trust such as the one in this case under other sections of the Probate Code, the Ninth Circuit requested that the California Supreme Court exercise its discretion to accept a certified question addressing the issue. View "Frealy v. Reynolds" on Justia Law

Pepper, who suffered from cerebral palsy, owned an extensive collection of Elvis Presley memorabilia as a result of his friendship with Elvis. When he moved into a nursing home in 1978, he told Nancy to “keep it.” Nancy, a nurse and a devoted Elvis fan, had cared for Pepper after the death of his father until he went into the nursing home. Nancy was not compensated for her efforts. Gary died two years later. Nancy maintained the collection until 2009, when it sold for $250,000. The estates of Pepper and his mother sued, alleging that Pepper retained ownership of the collection and that his interest passed to his heirs. A jury found that Pepper had made a conditional gift to Nancy; when he died, Nancy’s ownership was no longer subject to that reversionary interest. The Eighth Circuit affirmed. The jurors heard testimony about the care Nancy provided, read notes that Pepper wrote to Nancy, and saw photographs of the two spending time together. Nancy explained how important the Collection was to Pepper. Pepper’s relatives, who lived in California and were not Elvis fans, testified that Gary did not even tell them about the Collection. View "Estate of Pepper v. Whitehead" on Justia Law