Cost: $75 PFAC Member – $105 Non-Member
Speaker: Matthew Owens, Esq.
MCLE/CEU Awarded: 1.5 Estate
Presented Date: 8/25/2020
About the Course
This presentation will cover best practices for handling non-probate transfers when the documents on file with the bank conflict with the decedent’s estate plan. For example, what should the fiduciary do when the person named in the beneficiary designation form for a pay-on-death account is different than the beneficiaries named under the decedent’s will or trust disposing of the account. What about a general assignment that assigns all assets to a trust: does the assignment trump the bank’s forms? These questions and more are answered as the speaker covers the default rules for non-probate transfers, as well as the clear-and-convincing-evidence exception to those rules that is spawning probate litigation all across California.
Matthew Owens
Matt is a senior associate in the trust and estate litigation team. Matt focuses his practice on trust, estate, and inheritance disputes. He has prosecuted and defended a wide range of matters in probate court, including trust contests, elder abuse actions, accountings, contested conservatorships and claims involving breach of fiduciary duty. His clients include high net worth individuals and families, corporate trustees, and private professional fiduciaries. Matt has successfully handled several trials and arbitrations of trust and estate disputes. He also handles appeals and was one of the attorneys of record in Funsten v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. (2016) 2 Cal.App.5th 959. Matt is a certified specialist in estate planning, trust, and probate law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization. A leader in the legal community, Matt speaks and writes on trust and estate litigation topics and serves on the California Lawyers Association Trusts and Estates Section Subcommittee on Membership, Marketing, and Social Media and as Vice Chair of the San Diego County Bar Association, Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law Section’s Executive Committee. He was ranked on Legal Week’s Private Client “Ones to Watch” list in 2017, 2018 and 2019, and has been named a Super Lawyers Rising Star every year since 2013.