Orange County CA Probate & Estate Administration Law Blog

Estate planning is a huge part of life for many people, but the truth is that most of the estate disputes that arise involving the plans we laid out occur after we are not there to clarify our intentions or provide direction to our loved ones whether due to incapacity or inevitable death. Estate plans are the legacy of one person but are left for others to carry out.

With that thought in mind, there are a few things that a person can do to make carrying out those plans a little bit easier for the executor of the estate whether that be a loved one or an attorney in Orange County. The first helpful hint: name an executor and make sure that trusted person understands and accepts the responsibility. 

If you're new to estate planning and probate, you have probably heard of a dizzying array of trusts available for a wide variety of purposes. Some are intended to allow assets to pass to beneficiaries without probate, and to provide certain tax advantages. Others can be set up to protect children or dependent adults with special needs, or to avoid having to draw down all of a couple's assets when one of them has expensive medical needs.

When trusts are thoughtfully designed and managed well, they can achieve important goals and provide many advantages. When they are not, trust disputes between trustees and beneficiaries or between those depending on the trust and the IRS, state taxing authorities and even federal agencies such as Medicaid.

In this two-part post, we will give a simple description of the purpose of some trusts and their main purposes. This is not intended to be legal or tax advice; you should discuss your individual situation with an estate planning lawyer or financial advisor before making any decisions.

To begin, think of a trust as an agreement with three parties. The person who created and funded the trust is called a "settlor" in California, but you may also hear the terms "grantor" or "trustor." The second party is the beneficiary or beneficiaries of the trust. The third party is the trustee.

Like many landowners large and small, Larry Hagman, TV's "J.R. Ewing," decided to build a fence on his 30-acre estate in Ojai, California. And, as commonly happens, he misunderstood the legal boundaries and accidentally fenced in and improved a small portion of his neighbor's land. As it happened, his neighbor was a religious nonprofit founded to continue the work of Indian mystic Meher Baba who taught that he had come into the world to "sow the seed of love in your hearts."

In 2011, the issue embroiled the neighbors in a lawsuit, which hadn't been concluded when the actor died in Nov. 2012 at the age of 81. It then continued as a probate dispute between Hagman's estate and the Meher Baba nonprofit.

Former child superstar Mickey Rooney, now 92, is moving out of his long-term home in Westlake Village because his health no longer allows him to climb stairs. He has moved into the single-floor residence of one of his stepsons, apparently without his wife.

As you may recall, in Sept. 2011, Rooney and his attorney accused a different stepson and his wife of verbal and financial abuse and of withholding food and medicine from the actor. The couple is accused of fraud and breach of fiduciary duty related to the alleged abuse, during which Rooney claims they misappropriated his name and likeness, took control of his finances, and left him powerless. His attorney has now been granted conservatorship over the actor and is seeking a permanent injunction against the couple in order to protect him.