California Estate Planning, Probate, Trust & Estate Litigation Attorneys

   

At Hackard Law, we understand the importance of earning our clients' trust. We do this by providing experienced legal counsel that is tailored to suit each client's unique needs. Our commitment to every client is evident in our accessibility, as well as our clear and constant communication from the initial consultation through the resolution of each case.

We provide both individuals and businesses with accomplished representation in a broad array of practice areas — from estate, trust and probate litigation, complex and comprehensive estate planning, and elder financial abuse cases to personal injury lawsuits, business, and civil litigation, and real estate issues.

Hackard Law is one of California's leading contingency fee estate and trust litigation law firms. Hackard Law represents clients in estate and trust litigation cases where (1) we believe we can make a significant difference and (2) there is a defendant who can be made financially responsible for their wrongdoing.

Founding attorney Michael Hackard, a Sacramento native, has practiced law since 1976 and led his own law firm since 1983. Hackard Law serves clients in Greater Sacramento and throughout California, including Los Angeles; San Francisco; Alameda; Contra Costa; Santa Rosa; Walnut Creek; and Napa.

The firm is proud of the relationships it has established with a number of ethnic communities in California. We have lawyers and support staff who speak Spanish and Russian.

Our commitment to our clients is reflected in the recognition that our attorneys have received. For more than 20 years, Michael has received an AV* Preeminent rating, Martindale-Hubbell's highest peer review rating. He has also received an AVVO rating of 10 out of 10. The firm's attorneys have been selected for inclusion in Super Lawyers list, and are members of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum.

CONTACT:
Hackard Law
10630 Mather Blvd
Mather, CA 95655
Phone: 916-313‑3030
Fax: 916-226-5177
Business Email: info@hackardlaw.com

Siblings, Stepparents & Stepchildren | Battles Between Beneficiaries

Battles between beneficiaries are part and parcel of a busy estate and trust litigation practice. Common battle recipe ingredients include a dose of dementia, simmering family differences, frozen relationships, and diced communications mixed with a wedge of sibling rivalry.

Like soup, particular ingredients might stand out. It depends on the case. Sometimes it's the power of attorney holder's wrongdoing to an elder adult. Other times the secret sauce is a sibling actually "on the sauce" - a both a substance abuser and an elder abuser. Then, of course, there are classic stepmother disputes with their stepchildren over a decedent spouse's estate and trust assets. You get the idea - variables abound.

If you would like to talk with counsel who have litigated dozens if not hundreds of variables in abused trust beneficiary disputes, call us at Hackard Law - 916 313-3030. We litigate in California major urban counties - including Santa Clara, Alameda, Sacramento, and Los Angeles.

Siblings, Stepparents & Stepchildren | Battles Between Beneficiaries from Hackard Law on Vimeo.

B.B. King | An Estate Disaster

Elder financial abuse is a scourge that truly affects everyone - the rich and the poor, famous people and ordinary people, brilliant Nobel Prize winners and retired people who've never had any formal education.

The reason I draw your attention to cases of celebrity elder financial abuse is because they prove a point -- no one is immune. As Mickey Rooney once famously said before a Congressional Committee, if it could happen to him, it could happen to anyone - and it does.

When we study celebrity cases of elder financial abuse, we notice the same patterns that occur in cases that come to us at Hackard Law. The magnitude of financial abuse may be greater, but the lessons are the same. Case in point: Riley B. King, better known as the musician B.B. King.

When he died at the age of 89 in Las Vegas on May 14, 2015, "the king of the Blues" was a rock-and-roll legend. And while B.B. King was world-famous, had 15 Grammys, and amassed a fortune of perhaps as much as $40 Million, his cognitive abilities likely began to decline in his mid-80's because of strokes brought on by complications from high blood pressure and diabetes. But perhaps more important than his declining mental status, and possible Alzheimer's Disease, B.B. King had another factor that we often see in cases of elder financial abuse: a very complicated personal life.

He was married only twice, first when he was 21, and again at 33, marriages which lasted 6 years each. But he reportedly fathered 15 children by 15 different women over the course of his life, 11 of whom survived him.

In 2007, King set up a trust for his family members that was designed to take generous care of them after he died. He also gave control of his finances and medical care to his long-time and trusted business manager, LaVerne Toney, who became the legal trustee of his estate and trust.

Unbeknownst to King's children and heirs, however, in 2014, he changed his trust, leaving each between $3,000 and $5,000, with the rest of his assets going to fund future college and education expenses for the family.

Needless to say, that change did not sit well with King's children. Shortly after his death several of them made a shocking allegation: that LaVerne Toney, as well as King's Personal Assistant, conspired to poison King and coerced him into changing his trust.

Investigators eventually ordered an autopsy, but there was never any hard evidence that King was poisoned, and a related lawsuit was eventually dismissed.

Then new lawsuits were filed. King's heirs contended that King's Business Manager and Personal Assistant siphoned off hundreds of thousands of dollars, stole personal belongings from King's storage facilities, and allegedly prevented family members from seeing King in his declining days. However, investigators from Las Vegas Police and the City's Aging and Disability Services Division, it should be noted, found no evidence of wrongdoing.

More lawsuits were filed. According to the Hollywood Reporter, King's family has split into multiple factions, each with different lawsuits. About the only thing they seem to agree upon is that the 2014 trust may have been "flawed" because King might have been blind and suffering from Alzheimer's at the time it was signed. If a court agrees that the 2007 trust is valid, however, several of King's children, who were not specifically named, will likely receive little or nothing.

As these things go, the court cases surrounding B.B. King will probably continue for a very long time, with judges and lawyers working to untangle the complex and complicated life of a legendary blues musician.

Could all the legal wrangling between family members after B.B. King's death, and allegations of elder financial abuse, have been prevented?

Every case is unique, of course, but I do advise people who have multiple marriages, multiple step-children, and multiple half-brothers and half-sisters to iron out all their estate and trust issues as quickly as possible before they get into their seventies or eighties.

Changing a major trust document at the age of 88, just a year before someone dies, regardless of who they are, is likely to be scrutinized and challenged by heirs and beneficiaries.

If B.B. King had set up a trust 20 years earlier and had carefully documented to each potential heir or beneficiary how he wanted to take care of them after his death, there is a good chance that no one would have been left - pardon the pun - singing the blues. Unfortunately, such was not the case with B.B. King's family.

B.B. King | An Estate Disaster from Hackard Law on Vimeo.

Santa Clara Trust & Estate Litigation | The Power of Contingency Fees

Santa Clara County is rich in people, talent and wealth. It is home to Apple, Intel and Google.

It is also a place of astonishing residential values.

Santa Clara's skyrocketing real estate prices are shattering long held expectations of retiring in place. They also affect how trust and estate disputesarise and are handled.

A large percentage of estate and trust disputes revolve around the family home.

There are many examples:

• A caretaker convinces an elderly homeowner with dementia to deed over the elder's residence shortly before the resident's death;
• A child living in the home of his parent uses undue influence to have his parent amend her trust to cut out his three siblings as beneficiaries of the trust;
• And a mercenary neighbor convinces an elder with Alzheimer's to sell the family home to her at one-quarter of its value.

These examples mirror actual wrongs that Hackard Law regularly litigates.

Wronged beneficiaries often lack funds to challenge the wrongdoing.

Hackard Law may provide contingency fee arrangements in estate, trust and elder financial abuse cases that are economically viable and meet the requirements of California law.

Costs are an important part of such an arrangement.

Fee agreements can be negotiated.

Contingency fee percentages will generally apply to any award, verdict, judgment or compromise.

All contingency fee agreements must be in writing and conform to California's statutory and ethical disclosures.

Not all cases are won and past success is not necessarily indicative of future success.

Hackard Law regularly litigates estate and trust house fights on a contingency fee basis.

If this interests you, give us a call at 916 313-3030.

We litigate in Santa Clara and most Bay Area counties, and we'll be glad to see how we can help you.

Santa Clara Trust & Estate Litigation | The Power of Contingency Fees from Hackard Law on Vimeo.

Contesting a Will in CA

It's an all-too-common refrain: after a loved one dies, family squabbles erupt over money. Those disagreements can fracture a family and rip them apart.

Only "interested persons," as the law defines them, can challenge a will-and interested people require valid grounds. If you wish to challenge a will, retain an experienced lawyer to represent you. Not only will the assistance of an attorney bring your case to the best resolution possible, will contests often take a huge financial and emotional toll on family members-so an experienced attorney can help preserve family relationships that may otherwise become strained during the dispute.

To schedule a free consultation with one of our Los Angeles and Santa Clara estate litigation attorneys, call Hackard Law today, or send us an email through our online contact form.

Interested Persons

California Probate Code §48 broadly defines interested persons as:

· An heir, devisee, child, spouse, creditor, beneficiary, and any other person having a property right in or claim against a trust estate or the estate of a decedent which may be affected by the proceeding

· Any person having priority for appointment as personal representative

· A fiduciary representing an interested person

Fundamentally, to contest a will in California, the question you must answer this question in the affirmative: By contesting the will, would you receive more money?

Examples of interested persons include:

· An at-law heir who would have inherited by intestacy, if the decedent died without a will

· A child who might have received a larger inheritance under a prior will, but received less under a later will

· A creditor of an heir who was omitted from a will

· An omitted natural heir

Grounds to Contest a Will

At Hackard Law, we seen the following while representing clients involved in will contests:

· Errors (mistakes): The decedent incorrectly prepared the will

· Threat / intimidation: Someone threatened the decedent into preparing the will

· Duress: Someone confined, restrained, or in some manner incapacitated the decedent

· Undue influence: Someone close to the deceased (for example, a caregiver, family member, friend, nurse, financial advisor, or lawyer) unfairly used a position of trust

· Misrepresentation or fraud: Someone misled or lied to the decedent while preparing the wi· Revocation: The decedent revoked the will

· Capacity: The decedent lacked the mental competence to understand the contents of the will

· Improper execution: The will was not properly signed, witnessed or notarized (acknowledged)

· Forgery: The will was falsified

Mental Competency

To prevail in a will contest, the contestant must prove that the decedent lacked testamentary capacity.

Mental competency is also known as testamentary capacity. A testator is presumed competent, and can bequeath (give away) his property however he wants-even if someone disagrees with whether the decedent was fair or made the right choice. A decedent can give more, less, or exclude an heir. He can give his fortune to a charity or a new wife. Courts safeguard this concept of free alienability of a person's property. However, the decedent must not demonstrate mental incompetence.

What do mentally competent or of sound mind mean? When the decedent made the will, did he know what he was signing? Did he know the importance of the document? Was he aware of the property he owned, his financial circumstances, and his family relationships?

Did the decedent suffer from alcohol or substance abuse? Did the decedent ever receive a diagnosis for mental illness, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, dementia, or other conditions that could cause delusions?

Warning Signs

Interestingly, many family fights over wills don't just come out of the blue. We see certain recurring patterns, including:

· Significant economic differences: A wealthy beneficiary may feel no urgency to sell an estate asset or rush the estate administration process. Other beneficiaries, who may struggle from paycheck to paycheck, feel the opposite.

· Jealous siblings: Sometimes brothers and sisters have long-simmering feuds, jealousy, or other festering dynamics that now spill over into trying to even the score

· Multiple executors: Even if executors usually get along, they may not see eye to eye. Logistical challenges occur when multiple representatives live far from each other, or when differing schedules make meetings difficult to hold.

· Unreasonable or irrational beneficiaries: Will contests can grow more complicated and intense when a beneficiary suffers from financial, emotional, or neurological difficulties, or substance abuse or addiction issues.

· Unequal inheritance or advancements: Fights over the decedent's will may ensue if a decedent does not equally divide an estate among natural heirs (for example, children), or if one beneficiary receives an advance on an inheritance.

· Undue influence: Family, friends, and caretakers can unduly influence a decedent, especially later in life. This is also called financial elder abuse.

· Disinheritance: Cutting someone out of the will.

· Estrangement: An heir or beneficiary had no contact with the decedent for a long time. Hurt feelings and resentments abound.

· Blended families and second marriages: Tempers can flare and emotions may grow volatile when decedents left behind multiple marriages, stepchildren, second spouses, or young brides or grooms.

Will Contests Exact Serious Tolls

If you believe you have grounds to contest a will, or if you need to defend yourself in a will contest, consult an experienced attorney as soon as possible. These court cases take financial and emotional tolls. They can tear apart already-volatile family relationships. You need a seasoned will contest lawyer to help you determine your potential legal fees, the likelihood of success, and the fallout among family members. Once engaged for battle, you may lose the option to turn back, and irrevocably break familial bonds.

Your elder law attorney can also help you resolve your case without going to court, if feasible. Often, settlement is in everyone's best interests.

Were You Sued in a Will Contest? Do You Believe You Have Valid Grounds to Contest a Will? Call an Experienced Los Angeles Will Contest Attorney for Help

If you are brought into a will contest case, encounter disagreements among beneficiaries or estate representatives, or you have questions about challenging a will, don't delay. You have much to lose.

The experienced, compassionate elder law attorneys at Hackard Law focus on will contests. To schedule a free consultation, call us right away at (916) 313-3030 from Santa Clara or (213) 357-5200 from Los Angeles, or contact us confidentially. We serve clients from throughout California.

Dementia & Capacity | Long-Term Memory vs. Short-Term

Alzheimer's disease accounts for 60% to 80% of dementia.

Dementia is not a specific disease, but a term that describes a group of symptoms associated with cognitive decline, memory loss and impaired reasoning and judgment.

The existence and influence of dementia is often a pivotal fact in estate and trust litigation.

The effects of dementia on a testator (the maker of a will) or settlor (the maker of a trust) will be scrutinized in different ways.

In wills a court must determine whether the will maker had capacity to

1. understand the nature of the testamentary act,
2. understand and recollect the nature and situation of his or her property, and
3. remember and understand his or her relations to immediate family members and those whose interests are affected by the Will.

Determining capacity in trusts sets a higher capacity standard.

Finding capacity for a settlor requires that the individual be able to communicate, understand and appreciate

1. the rights, duties and responsibilities created or affected by his or her decision,
2. the probable consequences of the decision, and
3. the significant risks of, benefits of, and reasonable alternatives to the decision.

Elders in steep cognitive decline are targets of choice for the unscrupulous -

Those who unduly influence an elder suffering with Alzheimer's or dementia to make radical changes in estates or trusts benefitting the undue influencer.

One important distinction that I've noticed in handling dementia-related cases is the difference between long-term memory loss and short-term memory loss.

In many instances, a senior with dementia may recall events from the distant past with ease - where they grew up, their childhood, old friends and acquaintances.

At the same time, their short-term memory can still suffer.

Not too long ago I spoke with a friend assisting a dementia patient.

She was bright, happy and seemingly aware of her surroundings.

But she also thought she was sitting in the schoolhouse where she had studied eight decades ago,

and the pony that she long ago rode to school was outside waiting for her.

Needless to say, this elderly lady didn't have the capacity to make estate decisions.

If you have a concern about dementia or Alzheimer's and a recently changed estate or trust, you can call us at Hackard Law:

916-313-3030.

We represent beneficiaries throughout California, including in Los Angeles, Alameda, Sacramento and Santa Clara.

We're dedicated to protecting client interests, and we'll be glad to see how we can help you.

Dementia & Capacity | Long-Term Memory vs. Short-Term from Hackard Law on Vimeo.

The New York Times Describes Sacramento | A Thriving City

Have you ever heard the phrase "Bloom where you are planted." Its meaning can range from your place in life is full of magnificent possibilities to you can still make lemonade out of lemons.

I was born in Sacramento, California in 1950. I've worked to bloom where I was planted. The New York Times recently did a Travel Section piece on "36 Hours in Sacramento." It surely gives us pride of place.

The essay starts with a note that California's capital "gets no respect." It then describes our City as a place with "sprawling shade trees that make much of the city feel like a leafy park" with "a thriving cultural scene and architectural character all its own." Our city is also described as "an unusually bikeable city" that is flush with breweries, beloved sports teams, a 40-acre Victorian-style Capitol Park and unique art and theater opportunities.

I've been in every one of our nation's fifty states. When I was younger I felt that at times that I needed to apologize that I wasn't from San Francisco or Los Angeles, our state's most famous cities. Now our civic pride grows with experience and appreciation for our city - including Greta Gerwig's 2017 filmLady Bird - a love letter to her hometown.

The New York Times says it well: "Unlike California's glittering, glamorous coastal cities, Sacramento's location in the Central Valley gives it an earnest, small-town affect and a welcome lack of pretension."

Thank you, Sacramento.

The New York Times Describes Sacramento | A Thriving City from Hackard Law on Vimeo.