The Journal
Plain-English Estate Law
Plain-English guidance on wills, trusts, probate, and protecting your family in California.
You Inherited a House With a Tenant in It
You inherited the house and it came with a tenant. The tenant’s lease did not die with your parent. Whoever now holds title stepped into the landlord’s shoes…
Read →The Trustee Stopped Answering. What Can You Actually Make Them Do?
Silence from a trustee is not a legal category, which is why it’s so frustrating. There’s no statute titled “trustee ignoring you.” What there is instead is a…
Read →Do I Have to File a Trust Tax Return the Year Mom Died?
Usually two returns, sometimes three. The year someone dies, their tax life splits in half, and the trust that holds their assets becomes a separate taxpayer on the…
Read →The Trustee Moved Trust Money Into a Personal Account
Trust money in a trustee’s personal account is a breach of fiduciary duty on its face. Whether it’s theft, sloppiness, or a bank’s bad advice matters for what…
Read →The Successor Trustee Refuses to Serve. Who Takes Over?
Nobody can be forced to serve as trustee. If the person named after you declines, the trust itself almost always says who’s next, and the answer is in…
Read →Can a Trustee Pay Themselves and Hire a Lawyer With Trust Money?
Yes to both. A trustee can pay themselves for their work and hire a lawyer at the trust’s expense, and doing both isn’t double-dipping. They’re payments for two…
Read →Trustee Won’t Give Me a Copy of the Trust: What California Law Requires
The trustee has to give you a copy. Not a summary, not the pages they think you need, not a redacted version. Prob. Code § 16061.5 says a…
Read →Ventura County Probate: Courthouse, Calendar, and Probate Notes
Ventura County probate isn’t heard in Ventura. Every probate, trust, conservatorship, and guardianship matter in the county is filed and heard at the Juvenile and Probate Courthouse in…
Read →Want a straight read on where you stand?
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