Estate of Ivy
Opinion
Opinion
Joseph W. DiLeonardo for Contestant and Appellant.
Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison, Edmond R. Davis, John A. Payne, Jr., and David M. Bassham for Petitioners and Respondents.
OPINION
VOGEL (C.S.), J.
The decedent L.O. Ivey established a trust in his will. Appellant Sharon Purcell DiLeonardo is a one-sixth beneficiary of the income from the trust. Respondents Helen True Purcell, Lauri Ann Prati, and Michael L. Purcell are the other five-sixths beneficiaries of the trust income. Wells Fargo Bank is the trustee.
Appellant filed objections to the trustee's third account. The court summarily adjudicated that appellant's objections lacked merit, and settled and approved the third account. The order approving the third account is the subject of a separate appeal. We have affirmed that order in an unpublished opinion, Estate of Ivey (Feb. 17, 1994) B069459.
The trustee and respondents, the other income beneficiaries, instituted proceedings in the trial court (a motion under Code Civ. Proc., § 128.5, and a petition for instructions to the trustee under Prob. Code, § 17200) seeking a determination that appellant's opposition to the third account was frivolous and in bad faith, and that…