My Sibling Took My Inheritance: Legal Remedies Under California Law

If a sibling has taken, hidden or diverted what a parent left you, California law gives you ways to go to court. A beneficiary can ask the Superior Court to compel an accounting, remove a sibling serving as trustee or executor, order repayment, set aside transfers and, if the court finds bad faith, hold the sibling liable for twice the value recovered.

Most people facing this are dealing with two losses at the same time. A parent has died, and a brother or sister now controls the house, the accounts or the paperwork. Calls may go unanswered. Money may seem to have moved before or after the death. Or a late change to a will or trust may have left one sibling with far more than anyone expected. The questions behind the search are usually practical ones: what the sibling was allowed to do, what counts as wrongdoing, and what a California court can actually order.

This page sorts the situation by the role your sibling holds, the conduct involved, and the legal theory and remedy that fit it. It also covers the deadlines that apply.

What 'Taking an Inheritance' Can Mean Under California Law

Where the assets sit decides which rules apply. Property held in a trust passes under the trust's terms, and a trustee manages it. Property that passes by will or without a will goes through probate, and a court-appointed personal representative (an executor or administrator) manages it under court supervision. A house titled in a trust and a bank account that has to be probated can lead to two different proceedings, even within the same family.

Your sibling's role matters just as much. A sibling serving as trustee or executor is a fiduciary, meaning a person legally bound to act for others' benefit rather than their own. That sibling owes specific duties to everyone else. A sibling who is only a beneficiary, meaning a person entitled to receive something under the trust or will, owes no such duties. Even so, a beneficiary sibling can still be pursued if they took property wrongfully or obtained a gift by undue influence.

Courts in these disputes often refer to an "interested person." In plain terms, that is someone whose inheritance rights or claims could be affected by what the court decides, such as an heir, a beneficiary or a creditor.

The core legal theories are these:

• Breach of fiduciary duty by a sibling-trustee, under Probate Code sections 16004 and 16440.
• Wrongful taking, concealment or disposal of trust or estate property, under Probate Code section 859.
• Undue influence, which has the meaning Probate Code section 86 gives it by reference.
• A will contest or trust contest that challenges the document itself.

Each of these disputes is heard by the Superior Court of California for the county where the trust is administered or the estate is being probated. Trust and estate matters there are handled as probate proceedings.

When a Sibling Is the Trustee: Fiduciary Duties and Breach

Loyalty is the first duty a sibling-trustee owes. Probate Code section 16004(a) states that "the trustee has a duty not to use or deal with trust property for the trustee's own profit or for any other purpose unconnected with the trust, nor to take part in any transaction in which the trustee has an interest adverse to the beneficiary." Moving into the parent's house without paying rent, selling trust property to oneself, or paying personal bills from trust accounts can raise questions under this section.

Section 16004(c) adds a presumption. A transaction between the trustee and a beneficiary, made while the trust exists or while the trustee's influence remains, by which the trustee gains an advantage from the beneficiary, is presumed to violate the trustee's fiduciary duties. This presumption affects the burden of proof, so the trustee has to justify the deal. It does not apply to an agreement about hiring or paying the trustee.

The law also requires the trustee to communicate:

• Section 16060 requires the trustee to keep beneficiaries reasonably informed of the trust and its administration.
• Section 16061 requires the trustee, on a beneficiary's reasonable request, to provide requested information about the administration that is relevant to that beneficiary's interest. Section 16069 sets out exceptions.
• Section 16062 requires an account (a detailed financial report) at least annually, when the trust ends, and when the trustee changes. That duty runs to each beneficiary to whom income or principal is required, or authorized in the trustee's discretion, to be currently distributed. Exceptions exist under sections 16062 and 16064. Not every beneficiary is owed an annual account.

A trust document may waive the account, and a beneficiary may waive it in writing. Even so, under section 16064, the court may compel the trustee to account upon a showing that it is reasonably likely a material breach of the trust has occurred.

When a trustee commits or threatens a breach, section 16420(a) lets a beneficiary or cotrustee bring a proceeding for any appropriate purpose. These include compelling the trustee to perform their duties, stopping a breach, requiring redress by payment of money or otherwise, appointing a receiver or temporary trustee, removing the trustee, and reducing or denying the trustee's pay. Subject to section 18100, the court may also set aside the trustee's acts, impose an equitable lien or a constructive trust (an order treating property as held for its rightful owner), and trace and recover property that was wrongfully disposed of. Under section 16420(b), these remedies do not prevent resort to any other appropriate remedy.

Section 16440(a) sets out what a breaching trustee can be charged with, depending on what is appropriate. That may be any loss or decline in value caused by the breach, with interest; any profit the trustee made through the breach, with interest; or any profit the trust would have earned. This charge is called a surcharge. It is not automatic. Under section 16440(b), the court may excuse a trustee who acted reasonably and in good faith under the circumstances as the trustee knew them, in whole or in part, if doing so would be equitable.

Petitioning the Court: How a Beneficiary Challenges a Trustee's Conduct

The usual vehicle is a petition under Probate Code section 17200. Under section 17200(a), and except as section 15800 provides, a trustee or beneficiary may petition the court about the internal affairs of the trust or to determine whether the trust exists. The proceedings section 17200(b) lists "include, but are not limited to" matters such as interpreting the trust, determining duties and rights, and deciding the validity of a trust provision. There is more detail in this site's article on the Probate Code 17200 petition.

Two kinds of petition come up often when a sibling has gone quiet:

• A petition to compel information under section 16061. This is available if the trustee has not provided requested information within 60 days after the beneficiary's reasonable written request, and the beneficiary has not received that information within the six months before the request.
• A petition to compel an account. This 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.

Once a petition is filed, section 17206 gives the court broad authority. The court may make any orders and take any action necessary or proper to resolve the matters presented, including appointing a temporary trustee to run the trust in whole or in part.

Removal works through the same procedure. Under section 15642(a), a trustee may be removed in accordance with the trust instrument, by the court on its own motion, or on petition of a settlor (the person who created the trust), a cotrustee or a beneficiary under section 17200. The grounds in section 15642(b) include breach of trust, insolvency or unfitness, hostility or lack of cooperation among cotrustees that impairs administration, failing or declining to act, and excessive compensation. That list is not complete. Families with two siblings serving as co-trustees who cannot agree on anything often end up in this section.

Undue Influence and the Presumption Under Probate Code Section 21380

Undue influence has the meaning Probate Code section 86 gives it, which in turn refers to a definition in the Welfare and Institutions Code. Section 86 also says that meaning supplements the common law of undue influence rather than replacing it.

Section 21380(a) creates a presumption for certain gifts. A provision in an instrument that makes a donative transfer (a gift) to one of the following persons is presumed to be the product of fraud or undue influence:

• 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; and
• a care custodian of a transferor who is a dependent adult, but only if the instrument was executed while the care custodian was providing services, or within 90 days before or after that period.

The section reaches other persons as well, including people associated with these categories. Generally, the presumption shifts the burden of proof and may be rebutted by clear and convincing evidence. It is conclusive, meaning it cannot be overcome, for a transfer to the drafter and to the people section 21380(c) associates with the drafter. 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. A sibling who cared for a parent is not automatically presumed to have exerted undue influence. The section's specific conditions have to be met. Where they are not, an undue influence claim can still be brought, but without the presumption.

For readers whose parent signed something new late in life, this section often shapes the first real conversation about the case. That conversation usually turns on who prepared the document and who was providing care when it was signed.

Wrongful Taking of Estate or Trust Property: Probate Code Section 859

Probate Code section 859 provides a remedy of twice the value recovered. If a court finds that a person has in bad faith wrongfully taken, concealed or disposed of property belonging to a trust or the estate of a decedent (or a conservatee, a minor, an elder or a dependent adult), the person is liable for twice the value of the property recovered by an action under that part. The same applies if the court finds the person took, concealed or disposed of the property by undue influence in bad faith, or through elder or dependent adult financial abuse as defined in the Welfare and Institutions Code.

There are three separate bases for that finding:

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

The third basis matters where a parent was a dependent adult or an elder when money moved, for example through transfers made during a parent's final illness.

None of this is automatic. Double liability follows only if the court makes the required finding. In addition, except as otherwise required by law, the court may, in its discretion, award reasonable attorney's fees and costs against a person liable under section 859. Recovery actions of this kind are commonly brought through a petition under Probate Code section 850, which lets certain persons ask the court to determine who owns property claimed by or against a trust or estate.

Contesting a Will or Trust That Favors a Sibling

The deadline to contest a trust depends on notice. When a revocable trust becomes irrevocable because a settlor has died, section 16061.7(a)(1) requires the trustee to serve a notification. The other events that require one include a change of trustee of an irrevocable trust, and the list in that section is longer. Under section 16061.8, a person served with that notification cannot bring an action to contest the trust more than 120 days from the date the notification is served, or 60 days from the date a copy of the trust's terms is delivered to the person during that 120-day period, whichever is later. The clock starts with service of the notification or delivery of the terms. It does not start at the death or on the date the trust became irrevocable. This site's guide on how to contest a trust covers the grounds in more depth.

Wills follow a different procedure. Before a will is admitted to probate, a contest begins with an objection to probate under section 8250. A summons is then issued and served with the objection, and the persons summoned must file a written response within 30 days after service. After a will is admitted, section 8270(a) allows an interested person to petition to revoke the probate within 120 days. This 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. Under section 8270(b), a person who was a minor, or was incompetent without a guardian or conservator, when the will was admitted may petition at any time before an order for final distribution.

Capacity is judged at the moment the will is signed. Under section 6100.5, a person lacks capacity to make a will if, at that time, they could not understand the nature of the act; could not understand and recall the nature and situation of their property; or could not remember and understand their relationships to their living descendants, spouse and parents and to those whose interests the will affects. A person also lacks capacity if delusions or hallucinations from a mental health disorder caused them to leave property in a way they otherwise would not have. A diagnosis such as dementia does not, by itself, make a will invalid.

No contest clauses are narrower than many families fear. Under section 21311(a), such a clause may be enforced only against a direct contest brought without probable cause, and, only if the clause expressly says so, against a pleading claiming that transferred property was not the transferor's, or against a creditor's claim. Under section 21311(b), probable cause exists if, at filing, 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 a chance for further investigation or discovery.

Statute of Limitations: How Long a Beneficiary Has to Act

Under Probate Code section 16460(a), a breach-of-trust claim is barred unless a proceeding is started within three years after the beneficiary receives an interim or final account, or another written report, that adequately discloses the claim. A report adequately discloses a claim if it gives enough information that the beneficiary knows of the claim or reasonably should have looked into it.

Where no account or report discloses the claim, or none is received, the period is three years after the beneficiary discovered, or reasonably should have discovered, the subject of the claim.

The trust contest deadline under section 16061.8, described in the previous section, is separate and shorter. It applies to challenges to the trust document itself, not to claims about how the trustee has managed the trust. A single dispute can involve both deadlines. For example, one sibling may challenge a late amendment and, at the same time, the trustee's handling of the accounts. The two periods run independently of each other.

When a Sibling Is the Executor: Probate Estate Remedies

The probate court supervises a personal representative's administration of an estate, and interested persons may petition that court when something goes wrong. Under Probate Code section 8502, a personal representative may be removed for any of the following causes:

• wasting, embezzling, mismanaging or committing a fraud on the estate, or being about to do so;
• being incapable of properly performing the duties of the office, or otherwise not qualified;
• wrongfully neglecting the estate, or long neglecting to perform an act as personal representative;
• removal otherwise being necessary to protect the estate or interested persons; and
• any other cause provided by statute.

Section 859, discussed above, applies to property belonging to the estate of a decedent just as it does to trust property. A sibling-executor who is found to have taken estate property in bad faith faces the same potential liability as a sibling-trustee. There is an overview of how these proceedings fit together on this site's page about California trust litigation.

If You'd Like to Talk Through a Dispute With Your Sibling

Disputes between siblings over a parent's estate rarely turn on one fact. They usually depend on whether the asset was in a trust or in probate, which role the sibling held, when the notices were served, and what the records show about money that moved. An attorney looking at a situation like this would typically want to see the trust or will and any amendments, any trustee's notification and the date it arrived, accounts or bank records, and a timeline of the transfers in question. This page does not cover planning a trust or handling an estate where nobody disagrees.

To discuss a dispute like this with an attorney, request a consultation about your dispute through California Trust Litigation Lawyers.