Sirkin Law Trust Estate Probate Litigation Attorney

Breach of Fiduciary Duty Attorney Los Angeles

Breach of Fiduciary Duty Attorney Los Angeles

There are many circumstances in administering trusts or estates where a fiduciary (executor or trustee) may have caused damage to the estate or trust, and ultimately to the beneficiary.

Some situations which may involve a breach are described below:

1.   The fiduciary benefits himself/herself to the detriment of the estate or trust.

2.  The trust or estate assets lose value because of an action by the fiduciary.

3.  The trust or estate assets lose value because of mismanagement by the fiduciary in improperly investing the assets of the trust or estate.

4.   The fiduciary favors one beneficiary which results in a loss to another beneficiary.

5.   The fiduciary commingles assets of the estate or trust, with his own personal assets.

6.   The fiduciary conceals assets of the probate or trust estate.

7.   The fiduciary fails to take action to protect the assets of the trust or estate which are ultimately lost as a result of inaction.

8.   Trustee or Executor fails to provide an accounting.

Unfortunately, beneficiaries wait too long to take action to remedy the loss or prevent further loss from occurring.   We can help you recover assets if you act fast.   Breaches of Fiduciary duty have short statutes of limitations from the time the breach should have been discovered.    If you are given an accounting, the time for reviewing actions by a fiduciary are even shorter.    Our beneficiary attorneys in Los Angeles can assist you in reviewing actions by executors and trustees.  

Contact Mina Sirkin, Certified Specialist in Probate, Estate Planning and Trust Law.   Breach of Fiduciary Duty Attorney Los Angeles.  For appointments call: 818.340.4479.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Estate Litigation: Santa Monica and Los Angeles Courts

Estate Litigation can be very challenging in the Los Angeles courts.    Probate cases are no longer heard in the Santa Monica Court and are all transferred to the central court in downtown Los Angeles. The emotional aspects of grieving, loss and old family rivalries complicate the process of resolution of many estate litigation matters.

We can help resolve estate disputes at an early stage by mediating the disputes among family members.    The process of mediation involves the willingness of both parties to share a a few hours of their time to attempt to come to an agreement which may be a compromise from their initial positions.  Mediation can be very effective as it can carve out a settlement position which cannot be otherwise achieved in court.   

Our attorneys can assist you in the efficient resolution of estate litigation disputes in Santa Monica and Los Angeles Ca courts.  Contact us at Estate Litigation Santa Monica or call 818-340-4479.   You may email us at [email protected] for appointments.

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Estate & Trust Attorneys in San Fernando Valley California Probate Litigation

Estate & Trust Attorneys in San Fernando Valley California Probate Litigation

Sirkin & Sirkin, Estate & Trust Attorneys whose office is located in the San Fernando Valley advise clients regarding the California Probate Litigation procedures.   Our firm has been located in Woodland Hills, California since 1993 and is dedicated to the efficient resolution of probate and trust litigation matters.

Our Certified Specialist Attorney, Mina Sirkin, is a Los Angeles Probate Attorney, who is certified in Probate, Trust and Estate law.  We can assist you in determining the best avenue to protect your inheritance.   If you have been disinherited and seek to obtain your rights as a beneficiary or heir, we can guide you in fact finding to determine if there has been any undue influence or fraud by others.   If you need a San Fernando Valley Probate Attorney, you can count on us to provide you with superior service in this area.

When filing contested Estate & Trust matters in the San Fernando Valley, contact ourlawyers and Estate & Trust Attorneys in San Fernando Valley who are experts in California Probate Litigation. Estate & Trust Attorneys in San Fernando Valley California Probate Litigation Contact us at: 818-340-4479 or by email at [email protected]. 

 

International Estate plan goes wrong

By: Randi Boswell, Canwell News Service

"Three wills drawn up by a Canadian philanthropist who left a fortune to charity when he died in 2004 are at the centre of an international legal struggle.

Into each will, Eldon Foote, an Alberta-born lawyer and entrepreneur who amassed millions selling soap in Japan, wrote a "poison pill" provision. To prevent a fight over the division of his assets, Mr. Foote said anyone contesting the wills would lose their share of the inheritance.

Nonetheless, Mr. Foote's widow and five of his children have gone to court in Alberta to determine whether they would risk losing their bequests -- which include large cash payments, property and, in one case, a hockey stick signed by Wayne Gretzky -- by contesting an $8-million donation left to the Lord Mayor's Charitable Fund in Melbourne.

Also at stake in the case is an equal amount bequeathed to the Edmonton Community Foundation, which Mr. Foote's wills name as a key beneficiary.

The court is also being asked to determine Mr. Foote's true home -- as he spent time in Edmonton and also had a luxury home on remote Norfolk Island, a former penal colony in the South Pacific betwen Australia and New Zealand.

In November, the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta ruled the family's possible legal challenge should proceed in Canada rather than Australia, a potentially pivotal victory because of differences in "domicile" law between the countries.

Noting that Mr. Foote "died a very wealthy man," Justice Robert Graesser said Mr. Foote's widow and children are seeking direction from the court on "the interpretation and validity of the 'poison pill' clause" and on "where Mr. Foote was domiciled at the time of his death."

The family has apparently argued that Mr. Foote planned to live out his days in Canada, and that the division of his estate should have more fully reflected this intention.

Mr. Foot was 79 when he died in Edmonton of pneumonia. He was a leading benefactor at the University of Alberta, where his name graces a sports field, a chair in international business law, a moot courtroom and major scholarships in nursing and athletics. Edmonton's future actors also train at the Foote Theatre School.

But, after moving decades ago to Norfolk Island, he also became one of Australia's most generous charitable donors, bestowing millions of dollars to the City of Melbourne's main community trust for a host of causes ranging from leukemia research to tennis camps for children."

This is a good example of how an international estate plan can go wrong.   Adequate situs provisions in the wills, plus the no contest clauses could have prevented the mess in the Foote Estate.

Mina N. Sirkin is a Board Certified Specialist attorney in Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Law by the Board of Legal Specialization of the State Bar of California.  [email protected].  http://www.SirkinLaw.com.