Polsinelli Shughart PC attorneys bring together a unique and substantial blend of experience in both the litigation and probate/trust areas. Our Estate, Trust and Fiduciary Litigation group has decades of collective experience and can provide invaluable insight into litigation matters involving wills, trusts, guardianships and a host of other proceedings involving disputes over assets and related matters.
Our attorneys have handled a multitude of will contests, trust contests, discovery of assets actions, contested conservatorships, contested guardianships, proceedings to remove personal representatives (executors) and trustees, and actions involving amendment and termination of trusts and tortious interference with inheritance rights. Similarly, the group has significant depth of experience with a host of claims involving breach of fiduciary duties in the trust and estate context both on the plaintiff and defense side.
Since these types of cases often involve serious emotional disruption in the lives of litigants and their families, we take an approach that focuses heavily on minimizing, to the extent possible, the emotional impact on our clients. When possible and appropriate, we will often recommend alternative dispute resolution in lieu of heated court proceedings. On the other hand, when the facts support a swift and determined approach to the courts, the Estate, Trust and Fiduciary Litigation group has a long and distinguished track record of results in that regard.
Our attorneys from this group are well-known and respected in probate courts throughout the Midwest and in Colorado and Arizona. Members of the group have also handled substantial litigation matters in states including Maryland, Michigan, Texas and Louisiana, and regularly participate in national level symposia relating to this subject matter. Collectively, the group has successfully handled litigation matters involving hundreds of millions of dollars in assets.
Two members of the firm’s estate planning group served on the state bar committee that drafted the Missouri version of the Uniform Trust Code and four are members of the prestigious American College of Trust and Estate Counsel. Attorneys in the Estate, Trust and Fiduciary Litigation group regularly interact with outside resources such as these and combine the added depth that they provide with successful jury and bench trial experience as well as appellate advocacy experience.
Estate, Trust and Fiduciary Litigation areas of strength include the following:
- Will contests
- Trust contests
- Discovery of assets actions
- Presenting and defending estate claims
- Contested and uncontested guardianships and conservatorships
- Removal of personal representatives/trustees
- Judicial amendment of trusts
- Declaratory actions construing (interpreting) trusts and wills
- Breach of fiduciary duty actions
- Matters involving voting trusts
- Matters pertaining to the use of power of attorney documents