Extremely knowledgeable, patient, respectful and absolutely brilliant at composing legal correspondence. Adam is an excellent attorney at both preparing legal documents to avoid complications and litigating to help resolve complications.
The death of a loved one can sometimes uncover far more than grief. In many families, it also uncovers conflict surrounding trusts, inheritances, real estate, business interests, fiduciary responsibilities, and questions about what truly happened in the final months or years before death.
At Ferguson Law Group, we focus on high-conflict California trust and estate litigation arising after death, including disputes involving trustees, beneficiaries, contested trusts, suspicious amendments, inheritance conflicts, fiduciary misconduct, and probate litigation.
Led by Adam Ferguson, our firm represents clients throughout California in complex post-death litigation matters involving substantial assets, family conflict, trust administration disputes, and contested inheritances.
Many of these disputes begin after beneficiaries discover:
Our litigation team helps clients investigate what occurred, protect their interests, and pursue strategic legal action when trust and estate disputes escalate into litigation after the death of a loved one.
Our litigation practice is centered around disputes that arise after death, when questions surrounding inheritances, fiduciary conduct, trust administration, and estate distributions begin surfacing during probate or trust administration proceedings.
Common Trust Contest Matters Include:
– Contested trust amendments
– Undue influence claims
– Lack of mental capacity allegations
– Caregiver manipulation disputes
– Suspicious last-minute trust changes
– Financial elder abuse litigation
– No-contest clause disputes
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Common Probate Litigation Matters Include:
-Contested probate proceedings
– Inheritance disputes
– Executor misconduct claims
– Emergency probate petitions
– Hidden or transferred assets
– Multi-beneficiary disputes
– Probate appeals
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Common Trustee Dispute Matters Include:
– Trustee misconduct claims
– Fiduciary accounting disputes
– Trustee suspension and removal actions
– Breach of fiduciary duty claims
– Failure to provide accounting
– Delayed or withheld distributions
– Trust administration disputes
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Common Inheritance Dispute Matters Include:
– Sibling inheritance conflicts
– Blended family disputes
– Surprise heir claims
– Beneficiary rights litigation
– Disputes involving unequal inheritances
– Family conflict involving estate distributions
– Real estate inheritance disputes
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Common High-Asset Litigation Matters Include:
– Business succession disputes
– Trust-owned business conflicts
– LLC and partnership disputes
– Commercial real estate inheritance litigation
– Asset tracing and forensic financial review
– Multi-generational wealth disputes
– Investment and financial account disputes
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Common Financial Misconduct Matters Include:
– Concealed financial transfers
– Misuse of trust assets
– Unauthorized account withdrawals
– Suspicious property transfers
– Fiduciary abuse claims
– Self-dealing allegations
– Financial exploitation disputes
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A trustee may have legal authority to access trust bank accounts after the death of the trust creator, but they are still required to act in the best interests of the beneficiaries and in accordance with the terms of the trust. Problems arise when beneficiaries discover suspicious withdrawals, missing funds, unauthorized transfers, or personal use of trust assets during trust administration.
If a trustee improperly uses trust funds, conceals financial activity, or transfers assets for personal benefit, beneficiaries may have grounds to pursue litigation seeking accountings, asset recovery, trustee removal, surcharge damages, or other court intervention.
In some cases, family members only discover after death that a trust was amended shortly before a loved one passed away. These disputes often involve allegations of undue influence, lack of capacity, fraud, or financial elder abuse.
Sudden changes that disproportionately benefit one individual, remove beneficiaries unexpectedly, or appear during periods of illness or cognitive decline may lead to trust litigation. California courts can review the validity of trust amendments and determine whether improper conduct occurred during the estate planning process.
A sibling generally cannot legally “block” an inheritance without proper legal authority, but disputes often arise when one family member controls trust assets, delays distributions, withholds information, or challenges the administration process after death.
Inheritance disputes between siblings may involve contested trusts, allegations of trustee misconduct, disagreements regarding real estate or business interests, or claims involving unequal treatment of beneficiaries. In some situations, court intervention may be necessary to protect beneficiary rights and compel proper trust administration.
Trustees in California owe fiduciary duties to beneficiaries, including obligations involving communication, transparency, and financial reporting during trust administration.
If a trustee refuses to provide information, ignores requests, withholds accountings, or avoids communicating about trust assets after death, beneficiaries may have legal options available. Litigation may involve petitions to compel accountings, requests for financial records, trustee suspension actions, or claims involving breach of fiduciary duty.
Unfortunately, allegations involving caregiver manipulation and undue influence are common in California trust litigation. Families sometimes discover after death that a caregiver, new partner, or trusted individual became heavily involved in financial or estate planning decisions during a vulnerable period in the decedent’s life.
If there are concerns involving isolation, dependency, sudden trust amendments, cognitive decline, or suspicious financial changes, beneficiaries may have grounds to challenge the validity of the trust or amendment through litigation.
Trust funds should be managed according to the terms of the trust and California fiduciary laws. However, beneficiaries sometimes discover after death that assets appear to be missing, transferred, concealed, or improperly used during trust administration.
Disputes involving disappearing trust funds may require forensic financial investigation, fiduciary accountings, asset tracing, subpoenas, and litigation to determine what happened to the assets and whether financial misconduct occurred.
Yes. Trustees may be held personally liable if they breach their fiduciary duties or improperly manage trust assets during trust administration.
Beneficiaries may pursue claims involving:
Depending on the circumstances, litigation may seek trustee removal, repayment of funds, damages, or other court-ordered relief.
The timeline for trust litigation depends on the complexity of the dispute, the number of parties involved, the amount of financial investigation required, and whether the matter resolves through settlement or proceeds through trial.
Some disputes may resolve within several months, while more complex litigation involving contested trust amendments, fiduciary misconduct, business interests, or high-value assets can take significantly longer. Cases involving extensive discovery, forensic accounting, or multiple beneficiaries often require additional time due to the complexity of the issues involved.
Extremely knowledgeable, patient, respectful and absolutely brilliant at composing legal correspondence. Adam is an excellent attorney at both preparing legal documents to avoid complications and litigating to help resolve complications.
I have known Adam for the past ten years. He has been [an] advocate for many of my client’s estate planning needs. His professionalism and thorough knowledge of the law has been an asset to our community. Adam is a family man and understands the dynamics it takes to follow through with asking the right questions to follow through with any complex ideas that may arise from multiple generations. You will be thrilled to work with Adam.
Adam Ferguson was very helpful to me in determining whether to move forward with a law suit. In the end we decided against it, so I didn’t actually use his services. However he was extremely responsive to all of my questions, and took the time to explain carefully. I would not hesitate to use him if I had a case!
I would highly recommend working with Adam Ferguson from Ferguson Law Group. His informative advice and expertise in working with family members, pertaining to my Mother’s Trust, prepared us for the future and gave us suggestions for a better outcome that I never would have thought of. Thank you Adam!
Adam is extremely diligent and professional. We had a rare case and Adam was so nice in helping depose my family when one of my grandparents fell ill and passed away at a time their estate planning was an absolute mess. Adam and his team are extremely knowledgeable and well versed in the areas of estate and business planning. Highly recommend.
Adam helped us build our family trust and guided us through ALL the other documents we needed to have for our family should there be an emergency. He was smart and explained everything to us in a way we could understand so we felt confident in our documents. Adam also give me a great recommendation for a lawyer that works in a different specialty.
Adam and staff are a great team. My wife and I felt like we were valued as clients from the moment we met in his office. Adam sat down with us and explained trusts and answered all of our questions. His staff was always there to handle any other questions and concerns, appointments, etc. I was referred to the Ferguson Law Group by a client, and will definitely forward Adam’s contact to any friends and family who need to work with a trust attorney.
I have used the legal services of Adam Ferguson and his team for over 10 [years] with excellent results. He’s knowledgeable, reactive to my communications and I appreciate the thorough and accurate advice I have received. Specifically, I have used his estate planning, trust preparation, LLC and Incorporation assistance. If you’re looking for a bright, honest lawyer, be confident in choosing Adam.
My husband and I had been putting off updating our trust for quite awhile. Once we made the decision, we were glad we did. Working with Debra was so comfortable. She was very professional and thorough making sure we understood every page of the documents created for us before the final signing. The atmosphere in the office was pleasant and friendly.
We recommend Ferguson Law Group highly.
[Ferguson Law Group is] Great to work with, Debra was especially great. Appreciate her and Theresa willing to come in on a Saturday to accommodate us to sign documents. Very thorough and quick in their work. Had our estate binder less than a week after we signed and they took care of the retitling with the county for our house, etc. and thoroughly explained what we needed to do to make the changes on our bank accounts. Would highly recommend!!