As a beneficiary, it can feel like you are at the mercy of the trust document, regardless of the circumstances surrounding its creation. However, it’s essential to understand that if you have legal standing and valid grounds for contesting a trust in California, you have every right to challenge and invalidate it in court.
At Gokal Law Group, we have spent years helping people like you enforce their beneficiary rights to successfully contest trusts and safeguard their inheritance. Here is what you should know about the legal grounds for a trust contest.
Related Article: Estate FAQs: How Long Do I Have to Contest Wills and Trusts?
What Are the Grounds for Contesting a Trust in California?
A concrete reason for contesting a trust is especially important because the court will likely not hear your contest if it does not satisfy the acceptable grounds for contesting a trust. Let’s get into when you have standing and potential grounds for a trust contest.
Related Article: California Trust Litigation: How to Contest a Trust?
What is “Standing” in Trust Contests?
The first component of establishing whether or not you have grounds for contesting a trust is determining if you have legal standing to pursue a trust contest in the first place.
Your legal “standing” to contest a trust is often directly linked to your relationship with it. In a trust contest, people with legal standing typically include:
- Beneficiaries
- Heirs of the decedent
- Beneficiaries under a prior version of the trust
“When considering whether or not you have the legal standing for a trust contest, ask: do you have a financial stake in the outcome of the trust contest? If you were to win your contest, would your inheritance increase? If the answer is yes, then you likely have the standing for a trust contest.”
– Mónica Reyes-Santiago, Associate, Gokal Law Group
Related Article: What Are the Chances of Successfully Contesting a Trust in California?
What Are Acceptable Grounds for Contesting a Trust?
Generally speaking, you have grounds for contesting a trust when you can prove that there are elements of the document that are invalid.
In these situations, the court could order the document to be voided, leading to the distribution of the decedent’s assets per intestate succession order or to beneficiaries of a prior valid version of the trust. Common grounds include:
- Undue influence: Someone used a position of trust or confidence, such as a caretaker, to influence the decedent to create or amend the trust in their favor.
- Incapacity: Someone amended or executed the trust when they could not understand what they were doing; for example, impairment due to old age, dementia, other mental health issues or disabilities, or substance abuse.
- Fraud: Someone intentionally deceived, coerced, or tricked the decedent into executing the trust. Fraud generally falls into two categories: fraud in the inducement and fraud in the execution.
- Forgery: Someone forged a signature to execute the trust document or forged the entire document.
- Revocation: When the decedent revoked their trust by executing a new trust, modifying the old trust, or destroying their trust altogether.
- Several other situations exist that can serve as grounds for a trust contest, and determining if you have a case for a contest requires working with an expert.
Related Article: California Probate Laws: Does a Will Override a Trust?
Do You Have Grounds for Contesting a Trust? Contact Us Today to Find Out!
If you have the legal standing and the grounds to pursue a trust contest, working with an attorney is essential. Only with a trust contest attorney’s experience and expertise can you enforce your beneficiary rights, preserve the integrity of the trust so that it serves the purpose your loved one intended, and defend your inheritance.
Visit our Contact Page to schedule a free consultation and enforce your rights.
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