The aftermath of trust litigation brought by beneficiaries against trustees is too often a lawyer malpractice claim against the drafting lawyer.  Listen to Sean McKissick and Kristin Yokomoto discuss the 1958 balancing test applied to lawyer malpractice cases and the messages from the courts in recent cases.

 About Our Guest:  Sean McKissick

Sean McKissick is a partner at Downey Brand LLP in Sacramento, California, where he specializes in trust and estate litigation.  He serves as the Vice Chair of the Probate and Estate Planning Section of the Sacramento County Bar Association.  He is the current Editor of Trust on Trial, a blog focusing on trust and estate litigation in California that was founded by the Honorable Jeffrey Galvin prior to his ascension to the bench.  Listeners can receive Sean’s blog posts via email as they are posted by subscribing at https://www.trustontrial.com/subscribe/. 

 About Our Host:  Kristin Yokomoto

Kristin Yokomoto, Esq., is a partner at Baker & Hostetler LLP in Costa Mesa, California. She practices in the areas of estate planning for high net worth clients, business succession planning, trust administration, and probate. She is a Legal Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law certified by the State Bar of California. Kristin is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), Executive Committee Member of the CLA Trust and Estate Section (TEXCOM), and Committee Member of the Orange County Bar Association Professionalism & Ethics Committee.

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Trust Me is Produced by Foley Marra Studios
Edited by Cat Hammons and Todd Gajdusek

Land Back is an Indigenous-led movement focused on returning land to Indigenous Tribes in a way that strengthens Indigenous sovereignty and communities. This episode features a discussion about how Land Back comes up in the context of estate planning and introduces key concepts for estate planners, financial advisors, and tax advisors to assist clients in taking such
action.

About Our Guests:
Alma Soongi Beck is an attorney in  Lathrop GPM Private Client Services Practice Groups. Beck is certified as a specialist in estate planning, trust, and probate law by the State Board of Legal Specialization, and her practice focuses on trusts, charitable planning, gift and estate tax planning, and post-death administration including trust administration and probate. She speaks regularly on estate planning issues affecting LGBTQ+ and unmarried couples, on the evolution of gender and parentage in estate planning and administration, and on Land Back to Indigenous Tribes. She has previously served on the boards of the Transgender Law Center, Our Family Coalition, Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom (BALIF) and the Korean American Bar Association of Northern California (KABANC). Prior to joining Lathrop GPM (formerly Hopkins & Carley), Alma was a partner at Lakin Spears, LLP, as well as founder and principal attorney for The Beck Law Group, P.C. A Korean American child of immigrants, Beck had led workshops on implicit bias for legal professionals, college students, and climate organizations since the 1990s, most recently for the Climate Reality Project Bay Area Chapter. 

Jo Carrillo JD/JSD is Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the Indigenous Law Center (ILC) at UC Law San Francisco (formerly UC Hastings). For over three decades, Carrillo has taught and written extensively in property and property-related subjects, including Federal Indian Law. Carrillo earned her BA from Stanford University, her JD from the University of New Mexico, and her JSD from Stanford Law School. She is a member of the Order of the Coif, the American Law Institute, and a former Trustee of the Law & Society Association; she was a
Visiting Scholar at The Center for the Study of Law & Society at UC Berkeley Law, and a Visiting Professor at Stanford Law School. As Faculty Director of the UC Law Indigenous Law Center, Carrillo facilitates a seminar series called Law &. This series brings lawyers, students, and California Tribal leaders into the law school classroom to discuss land back and land stewardship issues. Recently, again with assistance from the Resources Legacy Fund, Carrillo has undertaken to study land back transfer documents. Carrillo has served on the UC Law SF Legacy Committee. She now serves on the UC Law SF Restorative Justice Advisory Board, which counsels UC Law SF Chancellor and Dean David Faigman on decanal initiated restorative justice efforts for Indigenous communities in California. As a long-term project, Carrillo is co-editing a volume, with UCLA Professor of History Benjamin Madley, on redressing 19 th century state sponsored harms against California Indigenous Peoples.
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About Our Host:
Erika Gasaway is a trust and estate litigation partner who was fomerly with Hopkins Carley, which is now LathropGPM. She is on the nationwide Private Client Services team and co-chairs the Trust & Estate Litigation Task Force. She is based in San Jose, California where she represents ultra-high and high net worth families, fiduciaries, and family offices to resolve disputes as various phases of their life cycles. Erika is a member of the California Lawyer’s Association Trust and Estate Section’s Executive Committee (“TEXCOM”).

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Trust Me is Produced by Foley Marra Studios
Edited by Cat Hammons and Todd Gajdusek

Estate planners not only help clients plan for what happens at death. Nowadays, especially with the high divorce rates, trust and estate lawyers also need to be mindful of how certain planning will play out in the event of a divorce.  In this episode of Trust Me!, we discuss what estate planners should know about the basics of family law.

About Our Guest:

Vanessa Soto Nellis is a Shareholder and Chair of the Family Law Practice Group of Lewitt Hackman.  She is also a Certified Specialist in Family Law.  She prides herself on bringing “calm to crisis” in family law matters, by focusing clients on the big picture, even in high-conflict divorce and child custody situations. Representing individuals in all aspects of family law in Southern California, Vanessa counsels and litigates for clients in dissolution (or divorce) matters, spousal support, child support, visitation rights, cohabitation, prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, and other family law matters.

Vanessa was designated one of the Best Lawyers in America in Family Law in 2024 by Best Lawyers Magazine, and a Southern California Super Lawyer (2018-present) and Rising Star (2007-12 and 2015-17) by Super Lawyers Magazine. The publication also named her one of Southern California’s Up-and-Coming 50 Women Attorneys, as well as one of the Up-and-Coming 100.

Vanessa is a member of the State Bar of California, San Fernando Valley Bar Association (SFVBA), SFVBA Family Law Executive Committee, Los Angeles County Bar Association, and the Ventura County Bar Association. She co-founded Women To Women, a professional network here in Los Angeles.

Vanessa can be reached at: [email protected]

About Our Host:
Host Anna Soliman is Trust Counsel and Managing Director for Fiduciary Trust International of California out of the Los Angeles Office.  She is also the Chief Fiduciary Officer of their California trust business. Prior to joining Fiduciary Trust International, Anna was an estate tax attorney for the Internal Revenue Service and also worked in private practice, specializing in estate planning and trust administration for ultrahigh net worth individuals.  She is also a member of the Trust and Estates Section of the California Lawyers Association and is a Vice-Chair of the Fiduciary Income Tax Section of the American Bar Association. 

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Trust Me is Produced by Foley Marra Studios
Edited by Cat Hammons and Todd Gajdusek

What enhanced remedies are parties entitled to recover under Probate Code section 859? Is it double damages, triple damages, or something else? There has been a district split, and now even a division split, on whether parties can receive “double damages” under Section 859. Recent case law sheds light on this issue, and the guests on this episode were counsel of record in two of those recent cases, enabling them to share key insights and an overview of where the law stands now on Section 859.

 About Our Guests:

 Cheryl Walsh

 Cheryl is an attorney at the Law Offices of Cheryl Walsh in San Juan Capistrano, California. She handles estate planning, trust and estate administration, trust and estate litigation, conservatorships, and elder law. Cheryl is a graduate of Loyola Law School and she is member of the Trusts and Estates Section of the California Lawyers Association. 

 Cheryl can be reached at [email protected].

 Scott Ingold

 Scott is a partner at Higgs Fletcher & Mack in San Diego. He is a trust and estate litigator, licensed in both California and Nevada. Scott is a graduate of California Western School of Law, is a board member of the Probate Attorneys of San Diego, and is a member of the Trusts and Estate Section of the California Lawyers Association. 

 Scott can be reached at [email protected].

 About Our Host: 

 Matt Owens is a partner in the San Diego (Del Mar) office of Sheppard Mullin.  His practice is focused on trust, estate, and inheritance disputes.

 Matt is a certified specialist in estate planning, trust, and probate law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Trusts and Estates Section of the California Lawyers Association (TEXCOM), and served as Chair of the Executive Committee of the San Diego County Bar Association's Estate Planning, Trust, and Probate Law Section. He is ranked by Chambers in Private Wealth Disputes.

 Matt can be reached at [email protected], on LinkedIn, or on X.


Sound Engineer: Cat Hammons

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Trust Me is Produced by Foley Marra Studios
Edited by Cat Hammons and Todd Gajdusek

Haggerty vs. Thornton is a case that made its way to the California Supreme Court with an eagerly anticipated decision. This case concerns an area of law that is of great interest to planners, administrators, and litigators: the method of amending trust and whether the method of revocation can be considered the same as the method of amendment.

About Our Guests:
Jennifer Campbell is a partner at Carlin and Peebles LLP in Southern California. She focuses her practice on estate planning and trust administration. She assists clients in drafting estate plans, advising fiduciaries in the administration of trust in estates, addressing fiduciary legal risks, advising fiduciaries about trust funding and distributions, preparing estate and gift tax returns, negotiating and drafting settlement agreements, and drafting legal pleadings and orders.  

She emphasizes deep personal relationships with her clients, allowing her to understand and meet their specific objectives.  Her practice is enhanced by her extensive experience in both law firms and the legal departments of financial institutions. She has presented and written on this topic for the California Lawyers Association and in other venues.

Jenny can be reached at [email protected].

Howard Kipnis has over 40 years of experience representing corporate fiduciaries, financial institutions, and many small businesses and individuals in dispute resolution and litigation arising from banking, brokerage, and probate and trust services.  He has co-authored an attorney practice guide and, over the years, has been a featured speaker at several seminars and trade conferences, including statewide CEB programs on topics such as trust and probate administration and litigation practice.

He's also testified as an expert witness in several cases, including issues arising from probate, trust, litigation, administration, and banking and fiduciary issues. For six years, he served on the executive committee of the trust in the state section of the California Lawyers Association,  and he's been lead counsel on several published opinions.  He was counsel of record in the case of Haggerty v. Thornton.

Howard can be reached at [email protected].

About Our Host:
Ciarán O'Sullivan is a trust and estates litigator in the San Francisco Bay Area.  He is a member of the executive committee of the trust and estates section of the California Lawyers Association. 

Ciarán can be reached at [email protected].

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Trust Me is Produced by Foley Marra Studios
Edited by Cat Hammons and Todd Gajdusek

When does a trust beneficiary’s cooperation with a trustee to modify, reform, or decant a trust become a taxable gift by that trust beneficiary? In late 2023, the IRS Office of Chief Counsel answered that question in CCA202352018. In this episode, our guest Jenny Hill Bratt discusses the CCA and its impact on trust and estate practitioners and their clients.  

 About Our Guest:
Jenny Hill Bratt is a partner in the San Diego (Del Mar) office of Sheppard Mullin.  Her practice is focused on US and international estate and income tax planning, trusts and estates administration, family and closely-held business planning and charitable planning and exempt organizations.

Jenny is a fellow in the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) and is certified as a specialist in estate planning, trust, and probate law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization. She served on the Executive Committee of the Trusts and Estates Section of the California Lawyers Association (TEXCOM), and was involved in the passing of the California Uniform Trust Decanting Act effective January 1, 2019. She is ranked by Chambers in Private Wealth Law.

Jenny can be reached at [email protected] or on LinkedIn.

About Our Host:
Matt Owens is a partner in the San Diego (Del Mar) office of Sheppard Mullin.  His practice is focused on trust, estate, and inheritance disputes.

Matt is a certified specialist in estate planning, trust, and probate law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Trusts and Estates Section of the California Lawyers Association (TEXCOM), and served as Chair of the Executive Committee of the San Diego County Bar Association's Estate Planning, Trust, and Probate Law Section. He is ranked by Chambers in Private Wealth Disputes.

Matt can be reached at [email protected], on LinkedIn, or on X.

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Trust Me is Produced by Foley Marra Studios
Edited by Cat Hammons and Todd Gajdusek

There are many things to consider when choosing a trustee or successor trustee for a trust. The trustee will face a number of challenges over the course of their service and will need to plan ahead to avoid the inevitable pitfalls.  In this episode of Trust Me!, we discuss a proactive plan for a trustee to successfully administer a trust, and an overview of primary things to consider to mitigate the risk of adverse action against a trustee.

 About out Guests:

 Herbert A. Stroh, Esq. is a partner at McCormick and Barstow in San Luis Obispo, California, where he assists clients in trust and estate litigation, administration, planning, and conservatorships. He has also served as a mediator in trust and estate disputes.

 Josh Yager, Esq., CFP is the managing partner of Anodos Advisors, a fiduciary consulting firm in Santa Barbara, California, where he is a recognized content expert on the issues of fiduciary duties relating to the management and oversight of trust assets.

 About Our Host:

Daniel C. Lorenzen is a partner in the Los Angeles office of Venable LLP, where he advises  individuals, families, and closely held businesses that have contacts in California, the United States, and around the world. He advises clients on all of the traditional tools of wealth planning, with an eye for holistic planning to minimize federal, international, state, and local taxes.

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Trust Me is Produced by Foley Marra Studios
Edited by Cat Hammons and Todd Gajdusek

When a client passes away, one of the most important items on our to-do list is to file certain tax returns.  In this episode of Trust Me!, we will be discussing an overview of things to consider during the period of post-death administration, mainly focusing on filing the federal estate tax return (Form 706). 

 About Our Guests:

Lisa M. Piehl is the Program Manager for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Estate and Gift Tax Policy division.  Lisa has been with the IRS Estate and Gift Tax division since 1994 in different roles, such as: Estate and Gift Tax Attorney, Supervisory Attorney, and Attorney Advisor.  Lisa works out of the Woodland Hills, CA office. 

Robin L. Klomparens is a tax attorney and a Director at Fennemore Law.  Renowned for her expertise in tax law, Robin excels in navigating complex tax code changes, providing her clients with up-to-date and effective legal counsel. She has contributed significantly to legal education as an adjunct professor at USF’s LLM program, Golden Gate University’s MS program, and currently at McGeorge School of Law. A prior member and current advisor to CLA’s Tax Section Executive Committee and Estate and Gift Committee, and a member of ACTEC, she also contributes to various charitable boards. Her extensive lecturing and publications further establish her knowledge in tax law.

About Our Host:
Host Anna Soliman is Trust Counsel and Managing Director for Fiduciary Trust International of California out of the Los Angeles Office. Prior to joining Fiduciary Trust International, Anna was an estate tax attorney for the Internal Revenue Service and also worked in private practice, specializing in estate planning and trust administration for ultrahigh net worth individuals.  She is also a TEXCOM member and is involved with the Fiduciary Income Tax Section of the American Bar Association. 

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Trust Me is Produced by Foley Marra Studios
Edited by Cat Hammons and Todd Gajdusek

In this episode of Trust Me!, Bette Epstein discusses the magic of the trust and estate mediation process to informally resolve disputes, which includes party engagement, active listening, patience and problem solving.

 About Our Guest:

Bette Epstein is a mediator, arbitrator and referee with ADR Services, Inc.  Ms. Epstein has been mediating trust and estate disputes since 2000.  Following a remarkable career as a trust and estate litigator, she turned her focus to alternative dispute resolution 24 years ago and has been helping parties settle their disputes since. Ms. Epstein is located in Northern California and mediates disputes virtually throughout California.

[email protected]

https://betteepstein.com/

About Our Host:

Kristin Yokomoto is a partner at Baker & Hostetler LLP in Costa Mesa, California and focuses on tax and estate planning for high-net-worth individuals, trust administration and probate. She is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and the American Bar Association. Ms. Yokomoto is a member of the Executive Committee of the California Lawyer Association’s Trusts and Estates Section.

[email protected]

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Trust Me is Produced by Foley Marra Studios
Edited by Cat Hammons and Todd Gajdusek

California just passed a directed trust statute! In this episode of Trust Me!, Michael Rosen-Prinz and David Khanjyan will go over the basic structure of a directed trust, along with the specifics of California’s new directed trust statute.

About Our Guests:
Michael Rosen-Prinz is a partner at Loeb & Loeb LLP (Los Angeles office). Michael maintains a broad trusts and estate practice, including wealth transfer planning, planning for family governance and business succession, cryptocurrency and QSBS planning, and estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer tax matters. Michael also has deep experience forming and operating single family offices and private trust companies; advising on governance, succession, tax, regulatory and operational issues. In addition, Michael devotes a substantial portion of his practice to cross-border planning for domestic and international families. In this area, he advises clients on foreign trusts, pre-immigration planning and expatriation, as well as inbound and outbound investments and compliance matters related to structuring investment vehicles in the U.S. and internationally. Michael is also a member of TEXCOM. Michael can be reached at: [email protected]

David Khanjyan is an associate at Loeb & Loeb LLP (Los Angeles office). He advises clients on the domestic and international aspects of income, estate and gift tax planning. He works with U.S. and non-U.S. individuals, families, trustees and businesses with multijurisdictional issues to structure tax-efficient plans. David is a member of the Pro Bono Committee and helps orchestrate various pro bono projects throughout the firm. He also is a member of the Armenian Professional Society and was a graduate editor of the Tax Law Review at NYU School of Law. David can be reached at: [email protected]

About Our Host: 
Host Anna Soliman is Trust Counsel and Managing Director for Fiduciary Trust International of California out of the Los Angeles Office. Prior to joining Fiduciary Trust International, Anna was an estate tax attorney for the Internal Revenue Service and also worked in private practice, specializing in estate planning and trust administration for ultrahigh net worth individuals. She is also a TEXCOM member and is involved with the Fiduciary Income Tax Section of the American Bar Association

Thank you for listening to Trust Me!

Trust Me is Produced by Foley Marra Studios
Edited by Cat Hammons and Todd Gajdusek