Margaret Lodise to Present at OCBA’s Trusts & Estates Law Section Meeting on California Supreme Court Ruling on Posthumous Amendment of Wills

In September, Partner Margaret Lodise will present to the Orange County Bar Association’s (OCBA) Trusts & Estates Law Section on a recent landmark California Supreme Court decision that a will may be reformed after one’s death if there is clear and convincing extrinsic evidence that the will does not accurately reflect the testator’s wishes.

Ms. Lodise represented several of the heirs of the testator Irving Duke. Though the trial and appellate courts found that his will unambiguously created intestacy and his estate should be distributed to his heirs, the Supreme Court overturned this decision on appeal. The case will now go back to the trial court where Ms. Lodise will represent the family members in applying the newly created law to the facts of this case.