The Inheritance Recovery Attorneys LLP

A forum for those dealing with the Emotional and Financial Heartache associated with a Family Dispute...a place to share personal stories, offer each other emotional support, and explore legal solutions to estate and inheritance problems.

As an attorney specializing in inheritance disputes, I've spoken to countless people who are suffering through the emotionally and financially draining experience of an inheritance dispute. And unfortunately, I have come to realize that the law all too often fails to comport with my own perception of morality. I've seen brothers and sisters lie to each other...I've seen kids manipulate their parents in order to get more money out of the estate...I've seen step-parents disinhe...rit their step-children after the natural parent has passed...I've seen caretakers marry their own patients and inherit the entire estate. And sometimes, the facts and circumstances just make it impossible to correct what many of us perceive as a moral injustice. But because of the fairly wide intersection between morality and the black letter of the law in probate court (which at its core is meant to uphold equity and the principles of fairness), we have significant ability to correct many perceived wrongs. And even though wrongdoers are often the ones who get control of the resources and money, we aim to cure this inequity by providing legal services and emotional support without charging fees upfront. This way, more people have access to competent and thoughtful professional assistance, making it easier to defend our legal rights and uphold our moral values. See more

California’s Short Form Power Of Attorney Did Not Authorize Change To Life Insurance Beneficiary | The Recorder https://goo.gl/ksXTHT

We just settled a case in Sacramento, once again involving an inheritance dispute between step-siblings. This time, our clients were the beneficiaries of their father and step-mother's estate. When father passed, the joint trust was supposed to be split equally, ensuring that our clients would receive their father's estate upon the passing of step-mother. Step-mother was authorized to make changes only under very limited circumstances. Instead, upon dad's passing, step-mom terminated the joint trust and formed her own trust leaving the entire estate to her kids, our clients' step-siblings. This time, armed with trust terms on our side, we were able to get an incredible result for our clients at mediation, recovering most of what they should have gotten in the first place. Facts do matter.

Sometimes the facts aren't great from a legal perspective, but the situation just feels unfair. Last week, we had a mediation in Palm Springs on such a case. Our client's natural father and step-mother made a trust over 20 years ago, which would have left our client and his two-half siblings equal shares of the estate after dad and step-mom passed away. But under the trust terms, after our client's dad passed away in 2012, step-mom retained the right to make changes to the tr...ust. And only 2 months after father's death, our client's step-mom changed the trust to leave almost the entire estate to her natural born children (our client's half-siblings) and cutting out our client. The result was unfair and there seemed to be some level of pressure applied by the daughter to get step-mom to make the changes. Unfortunately, step-mom had the legal right to make the changes and she seemed to be clear-minded. But, because it just didn't feel right, and everyone knew that's not what dad would have wanted, we were able to achieve a great settlement for our client. The money recovered will help him pay off his home loan and take care of medical bills, all without having to put any of his own money upfront on legal fees. It feels good to help other people out in any way we can. See more

Sometimes it's difficult to determine what exactly happened in the later stages of a person's life... What her reasoning and motivations may have been... To what degree did someone else push her to make changes to her final written wishes... to what extent are those written wishes inconsistent with her true intent? There is so much emotion and heartache surrounding the final stages of someone's life, that it's difficult to put together the pieces after the fact. But one thin...g we find consistently...a person who is forced to make decisions during times of extreme physical and emotional stress and pressure, the type of emotional pain that comes along with the realization of one's own mortality...changes made during these highly stressful times that are inconsistent with an individual's previously stated wishes are almost always suspect. Perhaps your loved one did in fact want to make some changes to her final wishes, but is the end result what she would have really wanted? All we can do is try to achieve a result that brings the pendulum of justice back to an acceptable level of fairness, even if it is impossible to determine exactly what your loved one's final wishes really were. See more

Here are a few circumstances under which a will could be invalid in California.

Here are a few questions to ask as you begin the process of seeking your rightful inheritance.

Here are the basic steps your attorney will take to contest a will on your behalf in California.

As the rightful beneficiary of a will or trust, you are entitled to a timely distribution of the assets that your benefactor intended for you to have.