Relative contesting a trust

[Dennise]

Jurisdiction

California

What form do i use to give to the judge if I need to ask for more time

 

[adjusterjack]

Nothing jumps up out of the CA probate court forms:

Find Your Court Forms - forms_and_rules (ca.gov)

There are several resouorces in the following search feature regarding motions. There might be some help in there.

generic motion california at DuckDuckGo

 

[Dennise]

I am not conservator assigned by the courts. My mother was 86 years old and became ill, she was old and she began to exhibit signs of dementia. She had a Transfer deed on death which was transferred to her only two living children which was myself and my brother. Myself and my brother took care of all of her needs eg. finance, health, medical appointments etc. She did not receive any government assistance. Unfortunately she died in 2021. A nephew (moms grandson) which had been missing for years decided to contest her trust. Stating that she had dementia and did not know what she was doing. He was able to find a pro-bono attorney, and filed a law suit. His attorney is asking me to provide all of my moms financial, medical, and assets to the court in three weeks. My question: Am I required to do that. I did not get permission from the court to take care of my mom so why am I required to provide all of that information. I don't have the format that the court is asking. I have her checking accounting, but there is no log of anything. The only thing that my mom had of any value was her home. My mom has other grandkids and they were not asking for anything. The one that is requesting an accounting of everything has been in and out of jail and homeless many times. Please advise. By the way, I am attempting to represent myself because I cannot afford an attorney. Another question what form do I use if I need to submit something to the judge asking for more time.

 

[zddoodah]

He was able to find a pro-bono attorney, and filed a law suit.

Who is the trustee of the trust? Who is/are the defendant(s) in the lawsuit? Are the defendants represented by an attorney? What cause(s) of action are alleged?

His attorney is asking me to provide all of my moms financial, medical, and assets to the court in three weeks. My question: Am I required to do that.

The question doesn't really make sense. Did the attorney serve you with a subpoena or request for production of documents ("RFPD")? If it's an RFPD, you don't provide things to the court. Also, "all of [your mom's] financial" what? All of her medical what? And you've haven't actually been asked to produce "assets"?

I did not get permission from the court to take care of my mom so why am I required to provide all of that information.

If you have documents that may be relevant to a pending lawsuit, you can be compelled to produce copies of whatever you have. That you "did not get permission from the court to take care of [your] mother" has nothing to do with anything. Of course, you may only be obligated to produce what you actually have. You wouldn't be obligated to obtain things you don't already have.

I don't have the format that the court is asking.

Not sure what you mean by this.

By the way, I am attempting to represent myself because I cannot afford an attorney. Another question what form do I use if I need to submit something to the judge asking for more time.

If you are a party to the lawsuit and are representing yourself, you need to educate yourself how to litigate a civil lawsuit. I suggest spending several hours at your county law library and particularly suggest The Rutter Group's Civil Procedure Before Trial practice guide.

 

[zddoodah]

What form do i use to give to the judge if I need to ask for more time

More time to do what?

 

[Dennise]

To gather some of the Production of Documents, requested by the Petitioner's Attorney.

 

[Zigner]

Based on your description of things and the information provided by @zddoodah, I think you will have to provide very little of what was requested. If you don't have it, you just respond by stating that you don't have it. You aren't required to go out and obtain information that you don't have.

With that said, please understand that I'm not an attorney (@zddoodah is, however). I would suggest you at least have a chat with an attorney who can give you personalized advice.

EDIT: Of course, if you DO have it, but desire time to gather/organize the information, then that's a different matter.

 

[Dennise]

Who is the trustee of the trust? Who is/are the defendant(s) in the lawsuit? Are the defendants represented by an attorney? What cause(s) of action are alleged?

The Daughter and son of the deceased were taking care of their mothers

 

[zddoodah]

You didn't answer most of the questions I asked, but you can simply request an extension to respond from the attorney who served the RFPD or subpoena.

And I'll repeat and clarify what both Zigner and I previously said: you are only obligated to produce that which is in your possession, custody or control. For example, if you have a requested document in a file cabinet in your house, you must produce it (or a copy thereof). As another example, if you have control over a bank account, you might have to download copies of statements even though you don't already have copies in your possession.