California Court Refuses to Allow Trust No Contest Clause to Disinherit Minor Child Who Challenges Conduct of TrusteesIt is a shame when probate courts apply the law in a manner that hurts children. I applaud a recent decision from California that refused to apply a no-contest provision contained in a trust instrument that could have resulted in a minor child being disinerhited simply by virtue of the child’s guardian asking the court to examine the conduct of the trustees. The case Safai v. Safai, 164 Cal.App.4th 233, 78 Cal.Rptr.3d 759 (2008) is a great example of a court’s careful application of the law in order to protect a child from disinheritance. The facts of the case are as follows:

Mansour Safai and Susanne Gahnstedt were married for approximately eight years and had one child, Nicolai, before their marriage deteriorated into divorce. Pursuant to the marital settlement agreement regarding property and spousal support, Mansour agreed to pay child support for Nicolai.
Mansour was diagnosed with a terminal illness in 2004, and on or about January 24, 2006, executed the Trust and a Last Will and Testament. Mansour succumbed to his illness on February 9, 2006, and was survived by his brother, Max Safai; his sister, Massoumeh Safai; and his mother, Parvaneh Assefi. (more…)

Third District Finds Miami Probate Court Erred in Requiring Litigants to Prove Undue Influence as Part of a Breach of Fiduciary Claim. Court Finds Lawyer Used Client’s Money as His Own “Piggy bank.”

On February 25, 2009, the Third District Court of Appeals released its much anticipated opinion regarding the Brigham Tree Farms Trust litigation. Brigham v. Brigham, –So.2d–, 2009 WL 454492; (Fla. 3rd DCA, Feb. 25. 2009), 34 Fla.L.Weekly D443b involved, in part, a dispute over the trust assets which originated as a the multimillion dollar tree farm encompassing around 800 acres of land in western North Carolina.
In order to understand the facts of the case, you will probably need to make a family tree outlining the various parties and there relevance in connection with EFP Brigham and his wife Marion, and the table consanguinity: (more…)