If you are tasked with a case involving undue influence in California, consider consulting with Dr. Stacey Wood. Dr. Wood possesses significant experience as an expert witness in undue influence cases.
The definition of undue influence in California received a makeover on January 1, 2014, with California Probate Code section 86 and California Welfare and Institutions Code section 15610.70 going into effect. The California Legislature felt a need to provide a clear definition of undue influence in California probate courts.
Increasingly, court officials and attorneys are depending on undue influence expert witnesses to help make assessments, testify in court, and assist in investigations.
Dr. Stacey Wood is an undue influence expert in California. She has worked on well over 200 APS and fraud cases in her work as a consultant in Los Angeles County, Riverside County, and San Bernardino Counties.
A typical 850 Petition is used to transfer real property into a revocable trust after the death of a trust creator (called the “Settler”) where title to such property was not properly titled in the name of the trust before death (Davidson, Keith A. November 23, 2010).
One of the most commonly cited cases in 850 Petitions is the Estate of Heggstad.
Except to the extent that the trust instrument otherwise provides or where the joint action of the settlor and all beneficiaries is required, during the time that a trust is revocable and the person holding the power to revoke the trust is competent:
(a) The person holding the power to revoke, and not the beneficiary, has the rights afforded beneficiaries under this division.
(b) The duties of the trustee are owed to the person holding the power to revoke.
(Enacted by Stats. 1990, Ch. 79.)
