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Fiduciary Litigation

Our Fiduciary Litigation Team represents fiduciaries, beneficiaries and family members in probate, trust and guardianship disputes. We have extensive litigation and trial experience, as well as a strong commitment to alternative dispute resolution. Our clients are institutions, charitable organizations, families and individuals addressing challenges related to the transfers of wealth from generation to generation and the administration of existing multi-generational trusts. We advise executors and trustees regarding construction and interpretation of wills and trust instruments, and advise and represent individuals in intra-family disputes.  

Our litigation and trial experience includes:

  • Bringing and defending claims of undue influence or lack of capacity in the creation of estate planning documents;
  • Bringing and defending claims of fraud, duress or interference with economic relations;
  • Bringing and defending claims of financial abuse or exploitation of vulnerable adults;
  • Bringing and defending contested guardianship or conservatorship proceedings;
  • Defending claims against professionals that arise in connection with the planning or administration of decedents’ estates;
  • Bringing and defending creditors’ claims in both probate and non-probate administrations of decedents’ estates; and
  • Bringing and defending disputes regarding valuation of assets in trusts and estates.

Our Fiduciary Litigation Team functions as an integral part of our Private Client Services Team, collaborating to assist trustees and executors in performing their fiduciary duties, engaging in post-mortem planning and preparation of complex estate tax returns. Close collaboration between planners and litigators is the hallmark of Lane Powell’s Private Client Services Team. This collaboration allows our clients and their other professional advisors to bring rational and speedy resolution to complex and often emotional disputes. Where parties are unable to resolve their disputes without litigation, our Fiduciary Litigation Team has the experience and talent necessary to gain the best adjudicated outcome at trial and on appeal.

Contact

  • Gail E. Mautner
    D.206.223.7099
    mautnerg@lanepowell.com

Related Practices & Industries

  • Business Transitions
  • Litigation
  • Nonprofit & Social Enterprise
  • Private Client Services

Get to Know Us

Experience

  • Guethlein v. Bank of America
    U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington
    Obtained summary judgment dismissal of claim to unwind trustee’s sale of residential property.
  • Anderson v. Shrock
    Stevens County Superior Court
    Obtained summary judgment dismissal of claim by former owner of property asserting that life estate precluded non-judicial foreclosure.
  • Investigation and Analysis of Financial Abuse Claims
    Represented successor trustee of family trustee to conduct investigation of alleged financial elder abuse, allegedly committed by family members/beneficiaries against prior beneficiary (who was a vulnerable person at time of alleged wrongdoing).
  • Claim Against Fiduciary
    Represented beneficiary to investigate trustee misconduct and recover all funds misappropriated by trustee, where trustee financially exploited vulnerable adult beneficiary over a period of years. 
  • Claim Against Co-Beneficiary
    Represented beneficiary in preventing co-beneficiary who was criminally convicted of wrongdoing with respect to financial elder abuse from unjustly profiting from that criminal conduct.
  • Professional Guardian — Informed Consent Services for Vulnerable Persons
    In the context of contested case administrative hearings, represented vulnerable persons who lack capacity, through their court-appointed professional guardian, in dispute against state agency, related to rights of vulnerable persons to retain and pay a guardian to make their informed consent medical decisions.

Our Insights

  • June 5, 2022Event / CLE
    Drafting and Litigating Prenuptial and Property Status Agreements
    Washington State Bar Association | Stevenson, Washington
  • April 22, 2022Event / CLE
    The Ties that Bind: Virtual Representation and Binding Nonparties
    Washington State Bar Association | Virtual
  • July 22, 2021News
    Lane Powell Again Receives Top Rankings in Chambers High Net Worth 2021
    Awards & Honors
  • July 6, 2021News
    Schilbach Joins Private Client Services and Fiduciary Litigation Teams
    Firm Announcement
  • May 19, 2021Event / CLE
    The Rathbone Decision and the New Amendments to Chapters 11.68 and 11.96A RCW
    Estate Planning Council of Seattle | Virtual
  • May 3, 2021Event / CLE
    Gender Issues in Trust and Estate Planning and Litigation
    American College of Trust and Estate Counsel | Virtual
  • July 9, 2020News
    Lane Powell Again Receives Top Rankings in Chambers High Net Worth 2020
    Awards & Honors
  • June 17, 2020Publication
    Estate Planning, Probate, and Trust Administration in Washington
    Washington State Bar Association Deskbook
  • January 1, 2020News
    Lane Powell Elects New Shareholders in Portland and Seattle
    Firm Announcement
  • July 12, 2019News
    Fiduciary Litigation and Trusts & Estates Teams Receive Top Rankings in Chambers High Net Worth 2019
    Awards & Honors
  • June 29, 2019Event / CLE
    Critical Cross-Border Considerations for Clients Who Travel and Live Internationally
    ACTEC Summer Meeting | Vancouver, British Columbia
  • June 9, 2019Event / CLE
    Charitable Gifts Gone Awry: Equitable Deviation and Cy Pres
    Washington State Bar Association RPPT Mid-Year Meeting | Spokane, Washington
  • March 8, 2019Event / CLE
    Recent Changes in Estate Planning
    Washington State Bar Association Law and Practice Refresher Seminar | Seattle
  • January 31, 2019Event / CLE
    Mama Wanted Me to Have the Teacups
    East King County Estate Planning Council Meeting | Bellevue, Washington
  • January 15, 2019Event / CLE
    Capacity and Undue Influence Issues Encountered by Professional Advisors
    Walla Walla Valley Estate Planning Council Meeting | Walla Walla, Washington
  • December 12, 2018Event / CLE
    Estate Planning for the Unusual: Person, Places and Things
    Washington State Bar Association Annual Fall Probate and Trust Seminar | Seattle
  • October 18, 2018News
    Fiduciary Litigation and Trusts & Estates Teams Receive High Rankings in Chambers High Net Worth 2018
    Awards & Honors
  • September 27, 2018Event / CLE
    How NOT to Run a Foundation: Lessons From the Trump Foundation Lawsuit
    Northwest Planned Giving Roundtable Annual Conference | Portland, Oregon
  • September 25, 2018Event / CLE
    From Taxes to Taxidermy: A Taxonomy of Topics for High Net Worth Clients
    Lane Powell Trusts & ‘Tinis Seminar | Seattle
  • July 1, 2018Publication
    Know Your Role: Ambiguity in Commercial Leases Leads to Dubious Benefits and Uncertain Liability
    Washington State Bar Association Real Property, Probate & Trust Newsletter
  • September 28, 2017Event / CLE
    You Decant Take It With You… But We Have a Few Ideas to Share
    Lane Powell Trusts & ‘Tinis Seminar | Seattle
  • May 30, 2017News
    Trusts & Estates Team Receives High Rankings in Chambers® High Net Worth 2017
    Awards & Honors
  • July 1, 2016News
    Lane Powell’s Trust and Estates Practice Group Received High Rankings in Chambers® High Net Worth for 2016
    Awards & Honors
  • May 27, 2016News
    Chambers® USA Recommends Lane Powell in Multiple Categories for 2016
    Awards & Honors
  • May 9, 2016News
    Moseley Joins the Estate Planning Council of Seattle
    Firm Announcement
  • November 3, 2015Event / CLE
    A Practical Walk Through of the 706, 709 and Washington Filings
    Estate Planning Council of Seattle and the University of Washington School of Law | Seattle
  • June 12, 2015News
    Thirty-two Lane Powell Attorneys Named ‘Washington Super Lawyers’ and 11 Named as ‘Washington Rising Stars’
    Awards & Honors
  • April 22, 2015Event / CLE
    How Did I Find Myself in a Reality TV Show? Tips for Estate Planners Hoping to Avoid Estate Litigation
    Washington State Bar Association | Seattle
  • November 25, 2014Publication
    Trustee Selection: Choose Wisely if Your Family-owned Business Will Be Held in a Trust
    Seattle Business
  • May 27, 2014Publication
    Do Will-Drafting Programs Fit Your Needs?
    Puget Sound Business Journal
  • November 16, 2011Event / CLE
    New Washington Trust Act Amendments
    Eastside King County Estate Planning Council
  • November 23, 2009Publication
    A Brave New World: Nonjudicial Dispute Resolution Procedures Under the Uniform Trust Code and Washington’s and Idaho’s Trust and Estate Dispute Resolution Acts
    The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel Journal

Before proceeding, please note:  If you are not a current client of Lane Powell PC, please do not include any information in this email that you or someone else considers to be confidential or secret in nature.  Prior to the establishment of a lawyer-client relationship, unsolicited emails from non-clients containing confidential or secret information cannot be protected from disclosure.

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