Civil Litigation
May 17, 2019
One court’s view of bad faith trust contests and fee shifting
A Court of Appeal ruling demonstrates that “when objections are devoid of merit, the beneficiary who brought them should bear the cost,” which in this case, included attorney fees incurred both by attorneys representing the office of the trustee, and the trustee individually.
Shawn S. Kerendian
Managing Partner
Keystone Law Group, P.C.
Email: shawn@keystone-law.com
Shawn is the founder of Keystone Law Group and is a certified specialist in estate planning, trust and probate Law by State Bar of California's Board of Legal Specialization.
Joshua D. Taylor
Partner
Keystone Law Group, P.C.
Email: Joshua@keystone-law.com
Josh's practice is exclusively focused on the complex field of trust, estate, and conservatorship litigation.
Teal M. Schoonover
Associate
Keystone Law Group, P.C.
Email: Teal@keystone-law.com
Teal has experience representing trustees, executors, administrators, beneficiaries, and heirs in trust and estate administration matters valued from hundreds of thousands of dollars to tens of millions of dollars.
Powell v. Tagami, 26 Cal. App. 5th 219 (2018), illustrates the California Court of Appeal's expansive application of Probate Code Section 17211, which allows for attorney fee shifting in cases involving a bad faith contest of a trust accounting. The court in Powell not only holds a bad faith contestant liable for the trustee's attorney fees inc...
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