When to Use a CA Section 850 or Heggstad Petition
California’s Probate Code ordinarily requires that significant trust disputes be settled in court. However, the costs of resolving a trust contest or trust lawsuit can be high. Even when trust challenges fail, the successor trustee may be obliged to use the trust’s financial assets to defend the entity, preventing beneficiaries from receiving the entirety of their inheritance.
Section 850 and Heggstad petitions allow beneficiaries and other interested parties to sidestep formal probate proceedings. After a Section 850 or Heggstad petition is submitted to the court, the court will determine whether the asset should be moved into or out of the trust.
If the court approves the petition, the asset may be transferred without the need to initiate more intensive probate litigation.
A Section 850 or Heggstad petition could help trustors quickly resolve disputes without an expensive and potentially divisive lawsuit. However, even though Section 850 petitions are a convenient means to bypass probate litigation, the success of a filing is almost always contingent on whether or not the petitioner can provide compelling evidence of the deceased trustor’s intent.
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