Daniel I. Spector, Esq.

Family Law Issues

• Successfully mediated dispute between spouses regarding valuation and control of LLC which held operational business, personally guaranteed debts and other liabilities, goodwill, equipment, and provisions for non-competition.
• Successfully mediated marital settlement agreement that contemplated various assets including division of dogs, cats, and horses, and differing claims for support levels due.
• Successfully mediated dispute between spouses over the characterization of business and related accounts established prior to marriage but in which both spouses held roles as officers, directors, and employees with the existence of a prenuptial agreement and a purported (and disputed) transmutation agreement.

Estates/Trusts

• Successfully mediated case involving former beneficiaries, children of the first marriage, who were disinherited as a result of late trust amendment favoring the second spouse. Petitioners alleged the amendment was obtained through undue influence and that their father suffered from diminished capacity. The second spouse was able to point to multiple medical records and the estate planner’s testimony that the decedent though physically compromised, was not cognitively impaired.
• Successfully mediated dispute between different classes of beneficiaries over the meaning of language in trust instrument as it related to the gifting of a particular asset (interest in an LLC), whereby the parties disputed whether an ambiguity existed and if so, what extrinsic evidence would be afforded most weight in the interpretation of the instrument.
• Reached resolution through mediation of claims by beneficiaries against successor trustee seeking to suspend, remove and surcharge fiduciary due to alleged waste, conversion and breaches of the Prudent Investor Act, despite the existence of a broad exculpatory clause in the trust instrument.
• Resolved case by heirs contending administrator’s decision to pay certain expenditures (i.e. hire counsel) and not pay other claimed expenses and/or make preliminary distributions constituted breach and should be the subject of surcharge.
• Successfully mediated case in which heirs alleged that third party (neighbor) unreasonably and in bad faith converted funds in multiple accounts when they allegedly facilitated their addition to the accounts as joint signatories when the decedent was cognitively impaired. Evidence was clear that decedent lived alone and independently, and that she had a very long, meaningful friendship with her neighbor, whereas her relations with her children were more “complicated.”
• Trust dispute between current trustee and successor in interest of prior trustee (who died) over claims of breach and conversion, with complicating valuation factors involved.
• A dispute involving two sets of petitioners regarding distinct attacks on the estate plan and against the same primary beneficiary. Able to resolve both sets of claims in a single mediation.
• Financial elder abuse within the context of a conservatorship, and competing claims by contingent beneficiaries regarding estate planning documents. Resolved all claims, created a fund for the care of the conservatee, and streamlined a dispute resolution process moving forward.
• Trust funding and undue influence dispute between omitted heirs and their sibling beneficiary.
• A trust dispute between a trustee/beneficiary and beneficiary half-siblings over an agricultural business, real property, and tangible personal property.
• A dispute among siblings, trustee v. beneficiary over proper trust allocation and valuation.
• Dispute between beneficiary classes re: validity of amendment, distribution of assets.
• There was financial elder abuse by the caregiver. The validity of certificate of independent review and trust was contested.
• Mediated a trust and estate dispute over the ownersihp of oil and gas interests.
• Mediated a case involving extremely entrenched adult siblings fighting over the division of trust assets. Acting as their third mediator, we were able to reach a resolution.
• Mediated a case where the resolution of trust was contested between omitted child and long-time friend.
• Mediated a dispute between the surviving spouse (second wife) and the adult children of the first marriage over the characterization and valuation of assets.
• Mediated a case incolving a contested conservatorship between siblings. They settled through agreement regarding control, budget, dispute resolution and expenditure control mechanisms, information sharing.
• Mediated a case involving a trust beneficiary who recevied excess distributions of principal in violation of the trustee's invasionary powers, and agreed to receive a lesser remainder distribution.

Probate

• Dispute between adult siblings over the division of family trust estate.
• Dispute between siblings over the validity of trust restatement on basis of undue influence, financial elder abuse, mistake. Claims of threats of physical violence and social media attacks, plus competing claims to family guns, knives, books, pens, and other heirlooms.
• Settled dispute between trustee/income beneficiary (uncle) vs. remainder beneficiaries (nephews) on claims of Prob. Code Sections 850, 859, breach of fiduciary duty, conversion.
• A dispute among heirs over the validity of death beneficiary designation.
• Dispute between brothers/beneficiaries over alleged fiduciary breaches in the administration of trust.
• Successful mediation spanning two days involved a complex contested conservatorship between the conservatee, adult children, second spouse, issues of care, control, income, and disposition of assets upon death.
• Mediated a dispute among adult siblings over the disposition of trust assets during administration.
• Mediated a dispute between sibling beneficiaries/heirs and brother trustee/executor over fees, real property valuation and distribution, off-sets, plan for completion of administration.
• Mediated a case involving siblings warring over the trust administration and subtrust control.
• Mediated a dispute between a spouse with rights under spousal property petition order and a specific beneficiary of a trust under the Heggstad petition.
• Mediated a case where eight siblings including a trustee fighting over the administration of a trust estate, surcharges, and accounting objections.
• Mediated a trust contest of a death bed trust instrument by a distant heir.
• Mediated a case involving the buy out of a sibling's trust interest with credits for caregiving, rent, taxes, and the handling of a potential eminent domain claim.
• Mediated a dispute among adult beneficiaries and co-trustees over the disposition of a commercial property held in trust, the disputed inheritance and rights to income, and the recognition of the deceased parent.
• Mediated a special needs trust dispute between siblings over administration, accounting, and the removal of a trustee. The settlement contemplates the new trustee, equalizing payments, a plan for future administration and the modificaiton of the trust with a waiver of all claims.
• Mediated a case involving a financial elder abuse and will contest between a distant relative and intestate heirs.
• Mediated a multi-sided dispute between beneficiaries, co-trustees, a former trustee and a trustee's counsel over the adminstration and control of a trust and a charitable foundation.
• Mediated a dispute between the surviving spouse and the remaining beneficiary adult children of a prior marriage.
• Mediated a dispute between the beneficiary daughter and the trustee step-father in a bypass trust over allegations of theft, conversion and breach of duty.

Accounting

• Settled accounting malpractice claim against CPA and his firm for advising against filing amended return in view of their own mistake, which resulted in audit costing the estate additional taxes, penalties and interest.

Legal

• Settled legal malpractice claim against drafting attorney by the intended beneficiary under a failed Power of Appointment drafted by attorney.

Buy/Sell

• Successfully mediated dispute between siblings over the threatened partition of a jointly owned parcel where one sibling resided. The case involved disputes involving valuation and the process of sale as well.
• Successfully mediated dispute among family members over the division and sale of 500 acres of farming and residential acreage. The case involved different types of appraisals and valuations, a conditional variance from the local governmental entity, and the Williamson Act.
• Reached resolution of a dispute regarding various interests other than fee title held by long-time user and occupier of ranch land.
• A mixed financial elder abuse, real property, and trust dispute involving six distinct parties.

Real Property

• Successfully mediated dispute as to the ownership and control of a long-held operating ranch owned by different generations of cousins, aunts and uncles. Mediation involved valuation and the untangling of multiple operational LLCs and the Williamson Act.
• Successfully mediated dispute between Buyer and Seller over disputed disclosure of material defect.
• Successfully mediated dispute between adjacent owners over history, nature, and implementation of boundary lines.
• Successfully mediated fight over multiple claimed owners over same parcel of property.

Elder Abuse

• Successfully mediated a case between the conservator/administrator of the decedent’s estate against a skilled nursing facility (and its insurance carrier) for personal injuries sustained by the conservatee/decedent due to the purported gross negligence of the facility.
• Successfully mediated case of nursing home neglect by conservator/successor trustee.
• Settled financial elder abuse claim against former fiduciary.
• Mediated a case involvingd claims for financial elder abuse involving the pay on death designations and a contested trust amendment.

Personal Injury

• Settled claim for personal injuries by an elder and related family member for a trip and fall due to dangerous condition.

Wrongful Death

• Reached resolution of claims by children of the decedent’s first marriage against the second wife, that she facilitated a lethal overdose of morphine to the decedent shortly after the decedent was placed in palliative care.