Trust Litigation in Santa Rosa and Sonoma County

If your dispute involves a Sonoma County trust or estate, it will generally be heard by the Superior Court of California, County of Sonoma, in Santa Rosa. That court can decide trust contests, will contests, demands for accountings, trustee or executor removal, and claims that someone wrongfully took trust or estate property.

Most people facing a trust or inheritance dispute in Sonoma County did not go looking for one. A parent has died, a family home or a set of accounts is now in someone else's hands, and the answers you expected have not come. The trustee may have stopped returning calls. A late amendment may have changed everything. You may be the trustee yourself, accused of things you believe are untrue. Whichever side you are on, you are probably trying to work out three things: which court decides this, what the law lets each person do, and whether any clock is already running. This page covers the court and the law. It does not say who is right.

Where Trust and Probate Cases Are Filed in Sonoma County

The Superior Court of California, County of Sonoma, hears trust and estate disputes for the whole county. The court sits in Santa Rosa, the county seat. Its probate matters include:

• petitions about a trust's internal affairs under Probate Code section 17200
• petitions to compel accountings
• petitions to remove a trustee
• will contests

The court's jurisdiction covers the entire county. That includes Petaluma, Rohnert Park, Windsor, Healdsburg, Sebastopol, Cotati, Cloverdale and Sonoma. A family in Healdsburg and a family in Petaluma bring their trust disputes to the same Superior Court.

Probate Code section 17200(a) is the main door into that court for trust disputes. Generally, a trustee or a beneficiary may petition the court about the trust's "internal affairs" or to decide whether a trust exists at all. A beneficiary is a person entitled to receive something from the trust. Internal affairs means the trust's own workings. Section 17200 has an exception set out in section 15800.

Under section 17200(b), internal-affairs proceedings include, but are not limited to:

• interpreting the trust's terms
• determining whether a provision is valid
• deciding who receives property when the trust ends
• settling the trustee's accounts and reviewing the trustee's acts
• instructing the trustee
• compelling the trustee to act

A fuller explanation is on this site's page on the Probate Code 17200 petition.

The court's official website, sonoma.courts.ca.gov, is the place to find current filing locations, procedures and forms. This page does not list a courthouse address, a department, a judge, a hearing calendar, local rules or fees. Those details change, and the court's own site is the reliable source.

Types of Trust Disputes That Arise in Sonoma County

Trust litigation reaching the court in Santa Rosa tends to fall into a handful of categories. Each is governed by statewide California law.

Trust contests. A trust contest challenges whether a trust or an amendment is valid. Common grounds are:

• lack of capacity, meaning the person who made it did not have the mental ability required
• undue influence, which the Probate Code defines by reference
• fraud

Breach of fiduciary duty. A fiduciary is someone legally bound to act for another person's benefit. Under Probate Code section 16004(a), a trustee has a duty not to use trust property for the trustee's own profit or for any purpose unconnected with the trust. A trustee also may not take part in a transaction in which the trustee has an interest adverse to the beneficiary. Claims of self-dealing, such as a trustee buying the family house cheaply or borrowing from trust accounts, are usually framed under this duty.

Petitions to compel an account or information. Section 17200(b)(7) sets two triggers:

• A beneficiary may petition to compel information if the trustee has not provided it within 60 days after a reasonable written request, and the beneficiary has not received it in the six months before the request.
• A beneficiary may petition to compel an account if the trustee has not submitted a requested account within 60 days after a written request, and no account has been made in the six months before the request.

Trustee removal. Beneficiaries, cotrustees and settlors may ask the court to remove a trustee under Probate Code section 15642. A settlor is the person who created the trust.

Recovery of property. When someone is accused of wrongfully taking, hiding or disposing of trust or estate property, Probate Code section 859 can apply. That covers houses, accounts, a business or personal belongings, and it can increase what the person owes.

The sections below take up the contest deadlines, the trustee's duties and the court's remedies in turn.

Contesting a Trust in Sonoma County: Deadlines and Grounds

A trust contest deadline usually begins with a document, not with a death. Probate Code section 16061.7(a) requires a trustee to serve a "notification by the trustee" in certain events. The listed events include:

• when a revocable trust, or part of one, becomes irrevocable because a settlor died
• whenever the trustee of an irrevocable trust changes

The list is partial. Section 16061.7 names other events as well.

Probate Code section 16061.8 sets the clock for a person served with the notification after a settlor's death under section 16061.7(a)(1). That person 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 them during that 120-day period, whichever is later. The first period is triggered by service of the trustee's notification. The second is triggered by delivery of the trust terms within the 120 days.

The period does not run from the date of death. It also does not run from the date the trust became irrevocable. This is a real statutory deadline, stated here plainly. Anyone who has received a notification may want to note its date and the date any copy of the trust arrived. The trust contest page on this site discusses contests in more detail.

The presumption under section 21380. Probate Code section 21380(a) presumes certain gifts in a trust or will are the product of fraud or undue influence. The presumption applies to gifts to:

• 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

The transferor is the person who made the gift.

The presumption shifts the burden of proof. The beneficiary can rebut it with clear and convincing evidence. There is one exception: for a gift to the drafter, and to the people section 21380(c) associates with the drafter, the presumption is conclusive and cannot be rebutted. A beneficiary who fails to rebut the presumption bears all costs of the proceeding, including reasonable attorney's fees.

This presumption does not reach every gift to a caregiver, relative or helper. It applies only to the people and circumstances the section describes.

No-contest clauses. A no-contest clause is a provision that penalizes a beneficiary who challenges the trust or will. Probate Code section 21311(a) allows it to be enforced only against three types of challenges:

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

Under section 21311(b), probable cause exists if, at the time of filing, the facts known to the contestant would cause a reasonable person to believe there is a reasonable likelihood the relief will be granted after a chance for 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 a beneficiary who has been told little or nothing, the trustee's duty to inform is often the first issue. For a trustee, it is often the first accusation. Probate Code section 16060 requires a trustee to keep the beneficiaries reasonably informed of the trust and its administration. Section 16061 adds a duty to report requested information about the trust's administration that is relevant to the beneficiary's interest, on reasonable request. That duty is subject to the exceptions in section 16069.

The duty to account. An account is the trustee's formal report of what came in, what went out and what remains. Probate Code section 16062 requires a trustee to account:

• at least annually
• at the termination of the trust
• upon a change of trustee

That duty runs to each beneficiary to whom income or principal is required, or authorized in the trustee's discretion, to be currently distributed. It is also subject to the exceptions in sections 16062 and 16064. Not every beneficiary is owed an annual account. A beneficiary who receives nothing until a later event may not be entitled to the annual account. That same beneficiary may still request information under section 16061.

Waivers. Section 16064 lets a trust instrument, or a beneficiary's writing, waive the account. Even then, the court may compel the trustee to account if it is reasonably likely that a material breach of the trust has occurred.

Self-dealing. The duty against self-dealing in section 16004(a) has a companion rule in section 16004(c). A transaction between the trustee and a beneficiary is presumed to violate the trustee's fiduciary duties if:

• it occurs while the trust exists, or while the trustee's influence over the beneficiary remains, and
• the trustee obtains an advantage from the beneficiary through it.

That presumption shifts the burden of proof. It does not apply to an agreement about the trustee's hiring or compensation.

Compensation. Under Probate Code section 15681, if the trust instrument does not set the trustee's pay, the trustee is entitled to reasonable compensation under the circumstances. California law also generally requires a trustee to give at least 60 days' written notice to certain beneficiaries before charging an increased fee. If a section 17200 petition is served before that 60-day period expires, the increase is held back until the court orders otherwise or the petition is dismissed.

Remedies a Sonoma County Court Can Order

The question underneath most of these disputes is what the court can actually do. Probate Code section 16420(a) answers it in part. If a trustee commits or threatens to commit a breach of trust, a beneficiary or cotrustee may start a proceeding, where appropriate, to:

• compel the trustee to perform the trustee's duties
• enjoin (stop) the trustee from committing a breach
• compel the trustee to redress a breach by paying money or otherwise
• appoint a receiver or temporary trustee to take possession of the trust property and administer the trust
• remove the trustee
• set aside the trustee's acts, subject to section 18100
• reduce or deny the trustee's compensation
• impose an equitable lien or a constructive trust on trust property, subject to section 18100
• trace and recover wrongfully disposed property or its proceeds, subject to section 18100

A constructive trust is a court order treating property as held for its rightful owner. That list is drawn from subdivision (a) and is not the whole of the law. Section 16420(b) provides that these remedies do not prevent resort to any other appropriate remedy.

Removal. Under Probate Code section 15642(a), a trustee may be removed in any of three ways:

• in accordance with the trust instrument
• by the court on its own motion
• on a section 17200 petition by a settlor, cotrustee or beneficiary

The grounds in section 15642(b) include:

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

Surcharge. A surcharge is an 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 depreciation in value resulting from the breach, with interest
• any profit the trustee made through the breach, with interest
• any profit that would have accrued to the trust if the lost profit resulted from the breach

A surcharge is not automatic. Section 16440(b) lets the court, in its discretion, excuse a trustee in whole or in part if the trustee acted reasonably and in good faith under the circumstances as known to the trustee, and excusing the trustee would be equitable.

Section 859. Probate Code section 859 applies only if the court finds that a person did one of the following with property belonging to a trust or a decedent's estate:

• 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

If the court makes one of those findings, the person is liable for twice the value of the property recovered in an action under that part of the Probate Code. The court may also award reasonable attorney's fees and costs against that person, in its discretion. Neither the doubled amount nor fees follow from an accusation alone. The court must make the finding.

Temporary measures. Probate Code section 17206 gives the court discretion to make any orders necessary or proper to resolve the matters a petition presents, including appointing a temporary trustee.

The Statute of Limitations for Breach of Trust Claims

Probate Code section 16460(a) sets two separate three-year periods for breach of trust claims. These apply unless the claim is already barred by adjudication, consent, limitation or otherwise.

• First branch: If the beneficiary received an interim or final account, or another written report, that adequately disclosed the claim, the claim is barred unless a proceeding begins within three years after receiving it. An account adequately discloses a claim if it gives enough information that the beneficiary knows of the claim or reasonably should have inquired into it.
• Second branch: If no 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.

No single event starts the clock in every case. Which branch applies depends on what documents were received and what they said. A court decides that question on the facts. Beneficiaries going back through years of statements from a family trust, and trustees who sent reports long ago, often find that this question shapes everything else.

Will Contests and Estate Disputes in Sonoma County

Will disputes involving a Sonoma County decedent are also heard by the Superior Court of California, County of Sonoma, in Santa Rosa. They follow statewide procedure.

Contests before the will is admitted. Under Probate Code section 8250, a person contesting a will before it is admitted to probate files an objection to probate. A summons is then issued and served, along with a copy of the objection, on the persons entitled to notice. Those persons must file a written response within 30 days after service of the summons. A person named as executor is under no duty to defend the contest until appointed personal representative. A personal representative is the court-appointed executor or administrator of the estate.

Contests after the will is admitted. Probate Code section 8270(a) allows an interested person to petition to revoke the probate of the will within 120 days after it is admitted. Two groups cannot use this route:

• a party to a will contest
• a person who had actual notice of a contest in time to join it

The petition must include written grounds of opposition. Under section 8270(b), a person who was a minor, or who was incompetent and had no guardian or conservator, when the will was admitted may petition at any time before the order for final distribution.

Capacity. Under Probate Code section 6100.5, capacity is measured at the time the will was made. A person lacks capacity if, at that time, either of the following was true:

• the person could not understand the nature of making a will, could not understand and recollect the nature and situation of their property, or could not remember and understand their relationships to living descendants, spouse, parents and others whose interests the will affects
• the person had a mental health disorder with delusions or hallucinations that caused them to leave property in a way they otherwise would not have

A diagnosis such as dementia does not, on its own, make a will invalid. The question is the person's actual condition when the will was signed.

Removing an executor or administrator. Probate Code section 8502 lists causes for removing a personal representative, 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 being qualified
• wrongfully neglecting the estate, or long neglecting to act
• removal otherwise being necessary to protect the estate or interested persons
• any other cause provided by statute

Finding Legal Help for Trust Litigation in Santa Rosa

Several public resources help readers find and check legal help in Sonoma County:

• The State Bar of California at calbar.ca.gov lets anyone confirm that a California attorney is licensed and in good standing.
• The Sonoma County Bar Association offers lawyer referral in the county.
• The court's site, sonoma.courts.ca.gov, is the source for court procedure.
• The statewide California Judicial Branch site has general court information.

This site does not give estate-planning advice. It does not address trust or estate administration where nobody disputes anything. It does not cover the law of any state other than California. This site's focus is disputes: contests, fiduciary misconduct, accountings, removal and the recovery of property. The statewide overview on the California trust litigation attorney page gathers these topics in one place.

Discussing a Trust or Probate Dispute in Sonoma County

A dispute over a Sonoma County trust or estate often turns on a few specific documents and dates. These include the date a trustee's notification was served, when the trust terms arrived, what an account disclosed, and who drafted a late amendment. A conversation with an attorney would look at those papers and dates, and at the conduct in question: transfers, property sales, withheld distributions or unanswered requests. For readers still deciding whether they need legal help at all, the court's own site and the State Bar's resources may be a useful place to start reading. To describe a dispute like this to an attorney, you can contact California Trust Litigation Lawyers to request a consultation about your dispute.