LEGAL MEMOS

Hamlin v. Jendayi (2024) 105 Cal.App.5th 1064. In this case the decedent went into hospice care at the home of a former student and friend of the decedent. During that time the decedent executed a Trust instrument naming the Appellant at the trustee and sole beneficiary of the Trust. Intestate heirs of the decedent filed a petition to invalidate the trust on the grounds of undue influence, lack of capacity and forgery. The Court of Appeal upheld the trial court decision finding that the Appellant had failed to meet the burden of proof by a preponderance of evidence that the trust was not the product of undue influence. The Court found that the intestate heirs had standing to contest the Trust instrument and their petition was not barred under Probate Code § 17200.

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