Do I need to be a named beneficiary to bring a trust lawsuit in probate court?

You Don’t Need to Be a Beneficiary to Challenge a Trust

For a long time, California’s probate code stipulated that only a person named as a beneficiary to a trust had the legal right to challenge the trust’s conditions, control, and asset disbursement.

In 2018, a federal Court of Appeals made a momentous decision in the case of Barefoot v. Jennings. In its ruling, the bench said that only current beneficiaries to a trust could use the California Probate Code to initiate a trust contest. However, the state Supreme Court recently overturned this ruling.

Now, people who have been disinherited—or otherwise excluded from a trust—are permitted to file trust contests, provided they would become a beneficiary if the court were to rule in their favor.

Why Barefoot vs. Jennings’ Reversal Is Important

The initial ruling in Barefoot vs. Jennings came with a lot of implications. Only named trust beneficiaries were able to initiate contests, so people who were wrongfully disinherited had no means to challenge the trust.

While trusts are typically harder to challenge than wills, prospective beneficiaries can still stake a claim if they believe the trust was compromised through:

Fraud
Duress
The trustor was not of sound mind at the time of the trust’s signing or alteration

The California Supreme Court’s reconsideration of Barefoot vs. Jennings means that people who have the legal grounds to claim they were wrongfully excluded from a trust can now challenge the trust—even if they are not among its named beneficiaries.

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If you need to speak with an experienced California trust and estate administration lawyer please contact us online or call us directly at 800.756.5596 to discuss scheduling a free appointment. Please note that our firm can only meet with the Successor Trustee or Executor of a decedent’s CA trust or will. Our firm does not meet with beneficiaries. Additionally, we do not contest or litigate any trusts or wills. Our trust and administration law firm proudly serves clients throughout California from our main office in Torrance, as well as those in Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Segundo, San Pedro, and Rancho Palos Verdes.

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