Los Angeles Trust & Estate Litigation Attorneys
Legal Focus Areas
When a trust or estate becomes a battleground, the stakes are personal and the deadlines are unforgiving. The Darvish Firm, APC represents beneficiaries, fiduciaries, and heirs in trust and probate disputes throughout Los Angeles County — from contested trusts and will challenges to trustee removal, breach-of-fiduciary-duty surcharge claims, and financial elder abuse — with matters heard in the Probate Division at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse and beyond.
Trust Administration:
The Darvish Firm offers full service Estate Planning to help Clients plan their estate to achieve their goals. While no one wants to think about death or disability, establishing an estate plan is one of the most important steps you can take to protect yourself and your loved ones. Proper estate planning not only puts you in charge of your finances, it can also spare your loved ones of the expense, delay and frustration associated with managing your affairs when you pass away or become disabled.
- Wills
- Revocable Trusts
- Irrevocable Trusts
- Special Needs Trusts
- Trust Administration
- Probate Administration
- Powers of Attorney
- Health Care Directives
- Probate/Trust Litigation
Avoiding Probate in California:
If leave your estate to your loved ones using a will, everything you own will pass through probate. The process is expensive, time-consuming and open to the public. The California probate court is in control of the process until the estate has been settled and distributed. If you are married and have children, you want to make certain that your surviving family has immediate access to cash to pay for living expenses while your estate is being settled. It is not unusual for the probate courts to freeze assets for weeks or even months while trying to determine the proper disposition of the estate. Your surviving spouse may be forced to apply to the probate court for needed cash to pay current living expenses. You can imagine how stressful this process can be. With proper planning, your assets can pass on to your loved ones without undergoing probate, in a manner that is quick, inexpensive and private.
Providing for Minor Children:
It is important that your estate plan address issues regarding the upbringing of your children. If your children are young, you may want to consider implementing a plan that will allow your surviving spouse devote more attention to your children, without the burden of work obligations. You may also want to provide for special counseling and resources for your spouse if you believe they lack the experience or ability to handle financial and legal matters. You should also discuss with your attorney the possibility of both you and your spouse dying simultaneously, or within a short duration of time. A contingency plan should provide for persons you’d like to manage your assets as well as the guardian you’d like to nominate for the upbringing of your children. The person, or trustee in charge of the finances need not be the same person as the guardian. In fact, in many situations, you may want to purposely designate different persons to maintain a system of checks and balances. Otherwise, the decision as to who will manage your finances and raise your children will be left to a court of law. Even if you are lucky enough to have the person or persons you would have wanted selected by the court, they may have undue burdens and restrictions placed on them by the court, such as having to provide annual accounting.
Other issues to consider in this respect is whether you’d like your beneficiaries to receive your assets directly, or whether you’d prefer to have the assets placed in trust and distributed based a number of factors which you designate, such as age, need and even incentives based on behavior and education. All too often, children receive substantial assets before they are mature enough to handle them properly, with devastating results. You should give careful thought to your choice of guardian, ensuring that he or she shares the values you want instilled in your children. You will also want to give consideration to the age and financial condition of a potential guardian. Some guardians may lack child-rearing skills you feel are necessary. Make sure that your plan does not create an additional financial burden for the guardian.
You should give careful thought to your choice of guardian, ensuring that he or she shares the values you want instilled in your children. You will also want to give consideration to the age and financial condition of a potential guardian. Some guardians may lack child-rearing skills you feel are necessary. Make sure that your plan does not create an additional financial burden for the guardian.
Planning for Federal and California Estate Taxes:
The IRS will want to review your estate at death to ensure you don’t owe them that one final tax: the federal estate tax. Whether there will be any tax to pay depends on the size of your estate and how your estate plan works. Many states have their own separate estate and inheritance taxes that you need to be aware of. There are many effective strategies that can be implemented to reduce or eliminate death taxes, but you must start planning process early in order to implement many of these plans.
Charitable Bequests – Planned Giving:
Do you want to benefit a charitable organization or cause? Your estate plan can provide for such organizations in a variety of ways, either during your lifetime or at your death. Depending on how your planned giving plan is set up, it may also let you receive a stream of income for life, earn higher investment yield, or reduce your capital gains or estate taxes.
A well-crafted estate plan should provide for your loved ones in an effective and efficient manner by avoiding guardianship during your lifetime, probate at death, estate taxes and unnecessary delays. You should consult a qualified California estate planning attorney to review your family and financial situation, your goals and explain the various options available to you. Once your estate plan is in place, you will have peace of mind knowing that you have provided for yourself and your family in case the worst happens.
Incapacity Planning in California:
If you become incapacitated, you won’t be able to manage your own financial affairs. Many are under the mistaken impression that their spouse or adult children can automatically take over for them in case they become incapacitated. The truth is that in order for others to be able to manage your finances, they must petition a court to declare you legally incompetent. This process can be lengthy, costly and stressful. Even if the court appoints the person you would have chosen, they may have to come back to the court every year and show how they are spending and investing each and every penny. If you want your family to be able to immediately take over for you, you must designate a person or persons that you trust in proper legal documents so that they will have the authority to withdraw money from your accounts, pay bills, take distributions from your IRAs, sell stocks, and refinance your home. A will does not take effect until you die and a power of attorney may be insufficient.
In addition to planning for the financial aspect of your affairs during incapacity, you should establish a plan for your medical care. The law allows you to appoint someone you trust – for example, a family member or close friend to make decisions on your behalf about medical treatment options if you lose the ability to decide for yourself. You can do this by using a durable power of attorney for health care where you designate the person to make such decisions. In addition to a power of attorney for health care, you should also have a living will which informs others of your preferred medical treatments such as the use of extraordinary measures should you become permanently unconscious or terminally ill.
Los Angeles Trust & Estate Litigation Attorneys
Trust Contests
A trust contest challenges the validity of a trust or an amendment on grounds such as lack of capacity, undue influence, fraud, duress, or improper execution. These disputes often arise when a late-in-life amendment redirects assets toward a caregiver, new spouse, or one child. California's shortened limitations period under Probate Code §16061.7 — typically 120 days from the trustee's statutory notification — makes early action critical, and we frequently pursue discovery of medical records, drafting-attorney files, and financial history to prove or defend the challenge. Our attorneys handle trust contests across Los Angeles, including Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, and the San Gabriel Valley. Learn more on our trust litigation page.
Will Contests
A will contest asks the probate court to reject a will — in whole or in part — because it was procured by undue influence or fraud, executed without testamentary capacity, or not signed and witnessed as California's Probate Code requires. Contests can be filed before admission or, in limited circumstances, after, and the burden and presumptions can shift depending on who benefited and their relationship to the decedent. We evaluate the drafting circumstances, prior estate plans, and evidence of isolation or dependence, and litigate these matters in the Los Angeles County probate court. For related probate proceedings, see our probate litigation page.
Trustee & Executor Removal
Beneficiaries who have lost confidence in a fiduciary can petition to remove and replace a trustee under Probate Code §15642 or an executor/administrator under §8502. Grounds include breach of trust, conflicts of interest, hostility that impairs administration, failure to account, insolvency, or refusal to act. The court may also suspend the fiduciary and appoint a professional or successor pending the outcome. We build removal petitions on documented misconduct rather than mere disagreement, and pair them where appropriate with surcharge claims to recover losses caused by the fiduciary's conduct across Los Angeles-area estates and trusts.
Breach of Fiduciary Duty & Surcharge
Trustees and executors owe strict duties of loyalty, impartiality, prudent investment, and to avoid self-dealing. When a fiduciary favors one beneficiary, commingles assets, makes imprudent or self-interested transactions, or lets estate property waste, beneficiaries can seek a surcharge — a money judgment holding the fiduciary personally liable for the resulting loss, and in bad-faith cases, double damages under Probate Code §859. We reconstruct transactions, trace assets, and quantify damages to hold fiduciaries accountable. Related duties are explained further on our wills, trusts, and estates page.
Contested Accountings
Trustees and personal representatives must periodically account for what they received, spent, and hold. When an accounting is late, incomplete, or masks questionable transactions, beneficiaries can compel one and file written objections to specific items. Litigating a contested accounting means scrutinizing bank records, fees, distributions, and property valuations, and shifting the burden to the fiduciary to justify each entry. A successful objection can lead to surcharge, denial of trustee compensation, and removal. Our attorneys handle contested accountings for beneficiaries and defend fiduciaries whose books are challenged throughout Los Angeles County.
Financial Elder Abuse (Welf. & Inst. Code §15610.30)
California's Elder Abuse Act reaches the wrongful taking, secreting, or retention of an elder or dependent adult's property through undue influence, fraud, or deception. These claims frequently overlap with trust and will disputes when a caregiver, relative, or new acquaintance diverts accounts, real estate, or estate assets. Proven financial elder abuse can support enhanced remedies, including attorney's fees, costs, and — where recklessness, oppression, fraud, or malice is shown — punitive damages. We investigate suspicious transfers, deed changes, and beneficiary-designation switches, and pursue recovery on behalf of elders and their heirs across Southern California.
Conservatorship Disputes
Contested conservatorships arise when family members disagree over whether an adult needs a conservator of the person or estate, who should serve, or whether a proposed conservatee is being financially exploited. Litigation can involve competing petitions, objections to a proposed conservator, allegations of mismanagement, or challenges to gifts and transfers made while the person was vulnerable. We represent proposed conservatees protecting their autonomy, family members seeking protective appointment, and interested parties opposing an unsuitable or self-interested petitioner in Los Angeles County probate proceedings.
No-Contest Clauses (Prob. Code §21310)
Many California trusts and wills include no-contest clauses that threaten to disinherit a beneficiary who challenges the instrument. Under Probate Code §§21310–21315, these clauses are enforced narrowly and only against a "direct contest" brought without probable cause. Before a beneficiary risks their inheritance, the strategy — and sometimes a safe-harbor analysis — matters enormously. We advise beneficiaries on whether a proposed petition would trigger a no-contest clause and defend beneficiaries accused of forfeiting, so that legitimate challenges are not chilled by an overbroad reading of the clause.
Petitions to Recover Estate Assets (§850 / Heggstad)
When property belongs in a trust or estate but is titled elsewhere — or someone is wrongfully holding assets that should pass to beneficiaries — a Probate Code §850 petition (often called an 850 or Heggstad petition) lets the court determine ownership and order transfer. These petitions confirm assets the decedent intended to fund into a trust, recover property misappropriated by a fiduciary or third party, and resolve competing ownership claims. Bad-faith takings can expose the wrongdoer to double damages under §859. We use §850 proceedings to restore assets to Los Angeles-area estates and trusts efficiently.
Who We Represent
Trust and estate disputes pit people who often share a family against one another; we represent whichever side of the dispute you are on.
- check_circleBeneficiaries — We help beneficiaries enforce their rights — demanding accountings, challenging suspicious amendments, and pursuing trustees or executors who breach their duties or withhold distributions.
- check_circleTrustees & Executors (defense) — We defend fiduciaries against removal petitions, surcharge claims, and accounting objections, helping them document good-faith administration and resolve beneficiary disputes efficiently.
- check_circleHeirs — We represent heirs in intestate and contested estates, protecting their inheritance against undue-influence transfers, missing assets, and wrongful conduct by other family members or fiduciaries.
- check_circleSurviving Spouses — We advise surviving spouses on community-property rights, omitted-spouse claims, and disputes over trusts, wills, and estate assets after a spouse's death.
- check_circleSuccessor Fiduciaries — We assist successor trustees and administrators stepping into troubled administrations — recovering assets, correcting a predecessor's mismanagement, and pursuing surcharge where prior fiduciaries caused loss.
Serving Los Angeles & Southern California
From our office on Wilshire Boulevard, The Darvish Firm represents clients throughout Los Angeles County — including Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Century City, Westwood, Culver City, Pasadena, Glendale, Burbank, and Long Beach — and across Orange, Ventura, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties. We appear in the Stanley Mosk Courthouse and Los Angeles Superior Court locations countywide.
Request a consultation or call (310) 677-3512.
Los Angeles Trust & Estate Litigation Attorneys — Frequently Asked Questions
On what grounds can a trust or will be contested in California?
Common grounds include lack of capacity, undue influence, fraud, forgery, and improper execution. Contests are highly fact-driven and deadline-sensitive, so early investigation — medical records, drafting attorney files, financial history — is critical.
What duties does a trustee owe beneficiaries?
California trustees owe fiduciary duties of loyalty, impartiality, prudent administration, and full accounting. When a trustee self-deals, favors one beneficiary, or refuses to account, courts can surcharge, suspend, or remove them. See our article on trustee fiduciary duties.
I'm a beneficiary — am I entitled to a copy of the trust and an accounting?
Generally yes. When a trust becomes irrevocable (typically at the settlor's death), beneficiaries are entitled to notice, a copy of the trust terms, and periodic accountings. Our article on providing a copy of the trust explains the rules.
Is there a deadline to challenge a trust?
Yes, and it can be short. For example, once a trustee serves a statutory notice under Probate Code §16061.7, a contest period as short as 120 days can apply. If you believe something is wrong, do not wait — have an attorney evaluate your rights promptly.
What is the difference between trust and probate litigation?
Both are disputes over what happens to a person's assets, but they differ in the instrument and the process. Trust litigation involves a living (or testamentary) trust — contests, trustee removal, accountings, and breach-of-fiduciary-duty claims — often outside formal probate. Probate litigation concerns estates administered through the probate court, including will contests, executor removal, creditor and ownership disputes, and estates with no valid will. Many families face both at once. See our probate litigation page for court-administered estate disputes.
How do I remove an executor or trustee in California?
You file a petition in the probate court showing statutory grounds — a trustee under Probate Code §15642, or an executor or administrator under §8502. Common grounds include breach of duty, self-dealing, conflicts of interest, failure to account, hostility that harms administration, or insolvency. Disagreement alone is not enough; the court needs documented misconduct or incapacity. In serious cases you can ask the court to suspend the fiduciary and appoint a neutral successor while the petition is decided. We often pair removal with a surcharge claim to recover losses the fiduciary caused.
What is financial elder abuse and how is it proven?
Under Welfare & Institutions Code §15610.30, financial elder abuse is the wrongful taking, hiding, or keeping of an elder's or dependent adult's property, or doing so by undue influence. Proof typically combines the elder's vulnerability, the wrongdoer's access and control, and inequitable results — sudden transfers, changed deeds, altered beneficiary designations, or drained accounts. California's undue-influence factors (Welf. & Inst. Code §15610.70) guide the analysis. A successful claim can recover the property plus attorney's fees and costs, and punitive damages where the conduct was reckless or malicious.
How long do I have to file a will or trust contest?
The deadlines are short and easy to miss. To contest a trust after receiving the trustee's statutory notification under Probate Code §16061.7, you generally have 120 days from the date that notice is served. To contest a will, you must generally object before the will is admitted, or move within the limited window the Probate Code allows after admission. Because the clock can start running before you fully understand what happened, it is important to consult counsel quickly. Contact our office to discuss your deadline.
Have a question about your situation? Call (310) 677-3512 or request a consultation.