A Compendium of Recent Cases

Cases appear in chronological order, with the oldest case appearing first.

Trusts and Estates
Probate Code Sec. 850 allows any interested person to request probate court to order a conveyance or transfer of property "claimed to belong to another" and does not require probate court to find that property belonged to the petitioning party. Sec. 856 clearly and unambiguously grants a probate court the power to order a conveyance or transfer to the person entitled to the property in question, but also to grant other appropriate relief. Probate court therefore did not exceed its authority by placing misappropriated funds, together with the statutory penalty, in decedent’s estate for a future determination of their proper disposition; probate court was not required to determine who was entitled to the funds before it could take them away from a person who was not entitled to them. When it is established that property is recoverable under Sec. 850 and that the party who took the property acted in bad faith, the Sec. 859 penalty may be imposed. Statutory emphasis is not on to whom the property belongs, but whether the person in possession in bad faith wrongfully acquired it. Probate court was not required to award statutory penalty money to anyone.
     Estate of Kraus - filed April 27, 2010, Second District, Div. Five
     Cite as B213484
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