A trust is the story of your family’s legacy. When someone uses underhanded tactics to alter or fabricate this legal document, the consequences can ripple across generations. Fortunately, if you’re wondering how to invalidate a trust in California under such circumstances, we’re here to protect your rights and your rightful inheritance.
At Gokal Law Group, we’ve helped numerous clients successfully invalidate fraudulent or manipulated trusts and achieve justice. In this blog, we’ll walk you through the process of invalidating a trust in California.
How to Invalidate a Trust in California
Invalidating a trust can be an overwhelming process to take on alone, but with the help of a trust attorney in California, you can navigate the process with confidence. Let’s get into what you need to know to invalidate a trust, from reasons to invalidate one to the process itself.
What Can Invalidate a Trust?
The process of understanding how to invalidate a trust begins with determining if you have the grounds to do so in the first place. Several situations may justify invalidating a trust, including:
- Failure to comply with legal requirements during execution.
- Forgery or fraud in creating or modifying the trust.
- Lack of mental capacity of the trust creator at the time of execution or amendment.
- Undue influence, coercion, or duress used to create or amend the trust.
Remember, you must also have legal standing to bring a petition, which means you are a current or former beneficiary, an heir at law, or another individual who would be directly affected by the trust’s terms and may have a legal interest in the trust or estate.
“Countless reasons exist for invalidating a trust, and only a trust attorney in Orange County has the expertise to determine if you have the legal basis to do so. Maybe the trust creator was manipulated later in life to amend the trust, or maybe the document was outright fabricated. The only way to know if you have a case is by working with an attorney. ”
– Alison Gokal, Trust Litigation Attorney in Orange County, Gokal Law Group
How to Invalidate a Trust
- Contact a trust litigation attorney in California.They will have the expertise and experience to assess your legal standing to bring a claim, the legal grounds for your claim, and guide you through the process, collect evidence, and prepare for litigation.
- File a petition in probate court. Working with a premier attorney is, ultimately, the best way to improve your chances of successfully contesting a trust. To contest and invalidate a trust, your attorney will start by filing a petition in the probate court.
This petition will initiate proceedings, and you must generally file it in the court where the trust administration occurs. Usually, the trustee will have sent you a Notice of Trust Administration under California Probate Code 16061.7, which lays out deadlines for filing a contest.
It is incredibly important to file your petition before this deadline. If you miss the date, you could miss your chance to invalidate the trust altogether.
- Engage in discovery. After filing the petition, you will then undergo the next phase of the trust litigation process: discovery, during which you and the opposing party gather evidence, take depositions, and exchange documents to build their case and support their arguments. The discovery process can be long and complicated, and it is important to work with a trust litigation attorney throughout the process. .
- Pursue settlement or trial. At this point, you may try to negotiate a settlement or go to trial. If you go to trial and the court deems the trust invalid:
- Assets may be distributed under a previous version of the trust, as long as those terms and the trust are valid.
- If no previous document exists, distribution will occur according to the intestate succession order.
“Sometimes, one sibling takes advantage of the trust creator’s old age to manipulate them to amend the trust and give them a larger inheritance. In these situations, we’ve compelled the court to revert to the former document and distribute assets per those terms. In other situations, the trust creator gets divorced and remarries, and the step-children exploit their deteriorating mental state or use coercion or duress to include them in the trust. If the trust is invalidated and no prior valid estate plan exists, the estate will be distributed according to California’s intestate succession laws, which generally prioritize spouses and biological or adopted children.”
– Alison Gokal, Trust Litigation Attorney in Orange County, Gokal Law Group
Do You Have the Legal Basis to Invalidate a Trust? Work With Premier California Trust Attorneys Today!
When learning how to invalidate a trust in California, the process has several steps. From determining if you have the grounds to invalidate it in the first place to ensure you don’t miss the deadline, working with an expert is of the utmost importance to shine a light on any wrongdoing, protect your inheritance, and receive justice.
Let us guide you through this complex process so that you can put it behind you and heal. Visit our Contact Page to schedule a consultation and invalidate a trust.
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