Thwarted Subpoena to Trust Professional in Inheritance Dispute

February 2025

Our client was a trust attorney who received a deposition subpoena from a disgruntled charity that believed it should have inherited real estate that passed to a natural beneficiary. To wrest ownership of the property from the beneficiary, the disgruntled charity falsely insinuated that there was fraud as to the trust formation. Through careful navigation of California third-party discovery rules, demonstration of a willingness to defend, and through negotiation with opposing counsel, we were able to defer the deposition and ultimately relieve the client of the burden and risks of litigation that he was brought unnecessarily into by subpoena. The charity’s challenge to the trust property distribution was found moot with no wrongdoing found.