Andersen v. Hunt
California Court of Appeals
196 Cal. App. 4th 722 (2011)
- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
In 1992, Wayne Andersen and his wife established a trust naming their children Stephen Andersen and Kathleen Brandt (plaintiffs) as the sole beneficiaries. In 1993, Wayne’s wife died. In 2003, Wayne suffered a stroke and amended the trust to leave 60 percent of his estate to his romantic partner, Pauline Hunt (defendant). In 2006, Wayne died. Stephen and Kathleen filed suit seeking an invalidation of the 2003 amendment to the trust on the ground that Wayne lacked the testamentary capacity to execute the amendment. The probate court evaluated Wayne’s testamentary capacity under California Probate Code §§ 810–812, the standard to enter into contracts and conduct various business generally, and invalidated the amendment. Hunt appealed, arguing that the probate court should have evaluated Wayne’s capacity to make the amendments under California Probate Code § 6100.5, the standard for the mental capacity to make a will.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Suzukawa, J.)
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