Trust Litigation in San Bernardino County

A trust, will or inheritance dispute connected to San Bernardino County is generally heard by the Superior Court of California, County of San Bernardino, in its Probate Division. That court decides trust contests, petitions to remove a trustee or executor, demands for an accounting, and claims that someone wrongfully took trust or estate property.

Most people facing a trust dispute in San Bernardino County did not go looking for one. A parent or relative has died. A sibling has taken over as trustee and stopped answering questions. A late-life amendment has changed who inherits. Or, from the other side, a trustee or executor has been accused of misconduct and wants to know what the accusation actually means. The aim of this page is to set out, calmly and in order, which court hears these disputes, what kinds of claims California law recognizes, what each party may ask the court to do, and which deadlines matter.

Where Trust and Probate Cases Are Filed in San Bernardino County

The Superior Court of California, County of San Bernardino, hears trust and estate disputes through its Probate Division. That one court handles these matters for the whole county. Its current locations, filing information and procedural notices are posted on the court's own website, sanbernardino.courts.ca.gov. That website is the place to confirm where a particular matter is heard. This page does not list addresses, departments or hearing schedules, because those details are best read directly from the court.

Trust disputes usually reach the court by petition. Under Probate Code section 17200(a), a trustee or beneficiary of a trust may generally petition the court about the trust's internal affairs, or ask the court to determine whether a trust exists at all. "Internal affairs" means the running of the trust: how its terms are read, what the trustee may or must do, and who receives what. The details of filing a Probate Code 17200 petition are covered separately on this site.

San Bernardino County is very large, and the distance matters in practice. A family member in Redlands, another in Victorville and a trustee in Ontario can all end up before the same court. Parties sometimes travel a long way to attend a hearing in person.

Types of Trust Disputes Heard in San Bernardino County

Trust contests. A trust contest is a challenge to whether a trust, or an amendment to it, is valid. Common grounds include lack of capacity, undue influence, fraud and forgery. Probate Code section 16061.7(a) requires a trustee to serve a written notification in certain events. These include when a revocable trust becomes irrevocable because a settlor (the person who created the trust) has died, and whenever the trustee of an irrevocable trust changes. That list is partial.

When the notification is served because a settlor died, Probate Code section 16061.8 sets the contest deadline. A person served with that notification may not bring a contest more than 120 days after the date the notification is served, or 60 days after the date a copy of the trust's terms is delivered to that person during that 120-day period, whichever is later. The period does not automatically run from the date of death. The steps of a California trust contest are explained on a separate page.

Trustee removal. Probate Code section 15642(a) allows a trustee to be removed in three ways: in accordance with the trust instrument, by the court on its own motion, or on a petition by a settlor, cotrustee or beneficiary under section 17200. The grounds section 15642(b) lists include:

• a breach of trust
• insolvency or unfitness to administer the trust
• hostility or lack of cooperation among cotrustees that impairs administration
• the trustee failing or declining to act
• excessive compensation

Those listed grounds are not the only ones a court may consider.

Breach of trust claims. A breach of trust is a trustee's failure to carry out a duty owed to the trust or its beneficiaries. If a trustee commits or threatens a breach, Probate Code section 16420(a) allows a beneficiary or cotrustee to begin a proceeding for any of these purposes that is appropriate:

• to compel the trustee to perform the trustee's duties
• to enjoin (court-order a stop to) a breach
• to compel the trustee to redress a breach by payment of money or otherwise
• to appoint a receiver or temporary trustee
• to remove the trustee
• subject to section 18100, to set aside the trustee's acts
• to reduce or deny the trustee's compensation
• subject to section 18100, to impose an equitable lien or a constructive trust on trust property (a court order treating property as held for the rightful owner)
• subject to section 18100, to trace and recover property that was wrongfully disposed of, or its proceeds

These remedies do not prevent a person from seeking any other appropriate remedy. Whether any of them is granted depends on the court's findings.

Accounting disputes. An account is the trustee's formal report of what came into the trust, what went out, and what remains. Probate Code section 16062 generally requires a trustee to account at least once a year, when the trust ends, and when the trustee changes. That duty runs to each beneficiary to whom income or principal must be currently distributed, or may be distributed in the trustee's discretion, subject to the exceptions in the statute. Not every beneficiary is owed an annual account. A trust instrument or a beneficiary's written waiver may excuse the account. Even then, the court may still compel the trustee to account if it is shown to be reasonably likely that a material breach of the trust has occurred.

A beneficiary may also petition to compel an account. That petition is available if the trustee has not submitted a requested account within 60 days after a written request, and no account has been made within the six months before the request.

Gifts presumed to come from fraud or undue influence. Probate Code section 21380(a) presumes that certain gifts in a will or trust were the product of fraud or undue influence. The presumption applies to gifts to these people:

• the person who drafted the instrument
• a person who transcribed the instrument, or caused it to be transcribed, while in a fiduciary relationship with the transferor
• a care custodian of a dependent adult, but only if the instrument was signed while the care custodian was providing services, or within 90 days before or after that period
• certain care custodians who began a marriage, cohabitation or domestic partnership with the dependent adult within the timeframes the statute sets

This presumption shifts the burden of proof to the person receiving the gift. That person can generally overcome it with clear and convincing evidence. For gifts to the drafter and certain people closely associated with the drafter, however, the presumption is conclusive and cannot be overcome. A beneficiary who fails to rebut the presumption bears all costs of the proceeding, including reasonable attorney's fees. The presumption does not reach every gift to a caregiver, relative or helper. It applies only to the categories the statute describes.

No-contest clauses. A no-contest clause is a provision that penalizes a beneficiary who challenges the instrument. Under Probate Code section 21311(a), such a clause may be enforced only against:

• a direct contest brought without probable cause
• a pleading claiming that property transferred was not the transferor's property at the time, but only if the clause expressly says so
• a creditor's claim, or an action based on it, but again only if the clause expressly says so

Section 21311(b) explains when probable cause exists. It exists if, when the contest is filed, the facts known to the contestant would lead a reasonable person to believe there is a reasonable likelihood the relief requested will be granted after further investigation or discovery. A no-contest clause does not automatically disinherit everyone who challenges a trust.

Trustee Duties and What Beneficiaries Can Demand

For many beneficiaries in San Bernardino County, the dispute starts small. They asked a question and got silence. California law gives that question real weight.

The duty of loyalty. Probate Code section 16004(a) bars a trustee from using or dealing with trust property for the trustee's own profit, or for any purpose unconnected with the trust. It also bars the trustee from taking part in any transaction in which the trustee has an interest adverse to the beneficiary. Using trust property this way is often called self-dealing. Under section 16004(c), a transaction between the trustee and a beneficiary that gives the trustee an advantage, made while the trust exists or while the trustee's influence over the beneficiary remains, is presumed to violate the trustee's fiduciary duties. That presumption shifts the burden of proof to the trustee. It does not apply to agreements about the trustee's hiring or compensation.

Information and reports. Under Probate Code section 16060, a trustee must keep beneficiaries reasonably informed about the trust and its administration. Under section 16061, on a beneficiary's reasonable request, a trustee must generally provide requested information about the administration that is relevant to that beneficiary's interest. Probate Code section 17200(b)(7) lets a court compel a trustee to act, including to provide a copy of the trust's terms. A petition to compel requested information is available if the trustee has not provided it within 60 days after a reasonable written request, and the beneficiary has not received it within the six months before the request.

Compensation. If the trust instrument does not set the trustee's pay, Probate Code section 15681 entitles the trustee to reasonable compensation under the circumstances. Before charging an increased fee, a trustee must give certain beneficiaries at least 60 days' written notice. If a beneficiary serves a section 17200 petition before that 60-day period ends, the increase is held back until the court orders otherwise or the petition is dismissed.

The court's reach. Probate Code section 17206 allows the court, in its discretion, to make any orders and take any action necessary or proper to resolve the petition before it. That includes appointing a temporary trustee to run the trust in whole or in part. The overview of California trust litigation on this site ties these duties together.

Breach of Trust: Liability, Surcharge, and the Statute of Limitations

Surcharge. A surcharge is a court order that a trustee personally pay for a breach. Under Probate Code section 16440(a), a trustee who commits a breach is chargeable with whichever of the following is appropriate:

• any loss or decrease in the value of the trust estate caused by the breach, with interest
• any profit the trustee made through the breach, with interest
• any profit the trust would have earned but for the breach

A surcharge is not automatic. Under section 16440(b), if the trustee acted reasonably and in good faith based on what the trustee knew, the court may excuse the trustee in whole or in part when it would be equitable to do so.

Twice the value under section 859. Probate Code section 859 applies when a court finds that a person did one of the following with property belonging to a trust or a decedent's estate, among other protected categories:

• in bad faith, wrongfully took, concealed or disposed of it
• took, concealed or disposed of it by undue influence in bad faith
• took, concealed or disposed of it through elder or dependent adult financial abuse

When the court makes that finding, the person is liable for twice the value of the property recovered in the action. The person may also be liable for reasonable attorney's fees and costs, but only in the court's discretion. Neither result follows without the court's finding.

Timing. Probate Code section 16460(a) sets a three-year limit for breach of trust claims, measured in one of two ways. If the beneficiary received an interim or final account, or another written report, that adequately disclosed the claim, the three years run from receipt of that account or report. If no such account or report disclosed the claim, or none was received, the three years run from when the beneficiary discovered, or reasonably should have discovered, the subject of the claim.

Executors and administrators. A personal representative is the executor or administrator of a probate estate. Probate Code section 8502 lists causes for removing one, including:

• wasting, embezzling, mismanaging or committing a fraud on the estate, or being about to do so
• being incapable of properly performing the duties, or not qualified for appointment
• wrongfully neglecting the estate, or long neglecting to act
• removal being otherwise necessary to protect the estate or interested persons
• any other cause provided by statute

Will Contests and Probate Proceedings in San Bernardino County

Will and trust disputes often grow from the same facts. A decedent may have left both a will and a trust. A question about capacity or undue influence late in life can touch both documents. In San Bernardino County, the same Superior Court hears both probate and trust matters, and procedural information for both is posted at sanbernardino.courts.ca.gov.

Capacity. Testamentary capacity is the mental ability required to make a valid will. Under Probate Code section 6100.5, capacity is measured at the time the will is made. A person lacks capacity if, at that time, the person could not do one of the following:

• understand the nature of making a will
• understand and recall the nature and situation of the person's property
• remember and understand the person's relationships with living descendants, spouse and parents, and with others whose interests the will affects

A person also lacks capacity if a mental health disorder with delusions or hallucinations caused the person to leave property in a way they otherwise would not have. A diagnosis such as dementia does not, by itself, make a will invalid. The question is the person's capacity at the moment the will was made.

Before the will is admitted. Under Probate Code section 8250, a contest before a will is admitted to probate begins with an objection to probate. A summons is then issued and served, and the people summoned must file a written response within 30 days after service. A named executor has no duty to defend the contest until appointed personal representative.

After the will is admitted. Under Probate Code section 8270, an interested person may petition to revoke the probate of a will within 120 days after the will is admitted. This option is not available to a party to an earlier will contest, or to someone who had actual notice of that contest in time to join it. The statute makes an exception for a person who was a minor, or incompetent without a guardian or conservator, when the will was admitted. That person may petition at any time before the order for final distribution.

Disputes From Communities Across San Bernardino County

Trust and probate disputes arise throughout San Bernardino County. They come from the Inland Valley, including Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, Fontana and Chino. They come from the eastern valley, including San Bernardino and Redlands. And they come from the High Desert, including Victorville, Apple Valley and Hesperia. Wherever the parties live within the county, a matter brought in this county is filed with the Superior Court of California, County of San Bernardino.

The court's own website is the source for local information. Statewide self-help material and court information are on the California Courts website at courts.ca.gov. This page does not cover setting up a trust or routine, undisputed estate administration.

Discussing a Trust or Probate Dispute in San Bernardino County

A dispute in the San Bernardino County Probate Division often turns on a few specific things. These include the date a trustee's notification was served, what the trust and its amendments actually say, which accounts or reports were sent, and how particular property or accounts changed hands. A conversation with an attorney can focus on those documents, dates and transactions. For readers whose question is about setting up a trust or handling an estate that no one disputes, this site is not the right resource.

To talk with an attorney about a disagreement like this, you may request a consultation about your dispute through California Trust Litigation Lawyers.