Townsend

I.

INTRODUCTION

A no contest clause is statutorily defined as “a provision in an otherwise valid instrument that, if enforced, would penalize a beneficiary if the beneficiary files a contest with the court.” (Prob. Code, § 21300, subd. (d).) Pursuant to section 21305, subdivision (a)(3), “A challenge to the validity of an instrument. . . other than the instrument containing the no contest clause,” does “not constitute a contest unless expressly identified in the no contest clause as a violation of the clause . . .” (§ 21305, subd. (a)).

Estate of Rossi (2006) 138 Cal.App.4th 1325, 1329 [ 42 Cal.Rptr.3d 244 ] (Rossi), the Court of Appeal concluded that pursuant to section 21305, subdivision (a), a no contest clause contained in a trust that, by its terms, applied to any action that sought to “ ‘void, nullify or set aside this trust or any of its provisions,’ ” would not be triggered by an action that sought to invalidate an amendment to the trust. In Perrin v. Lee (2008) 164 Cal.App.4th 1239, 1242 [ 79 Cal.Rptr.3d 885 ] (Perrin), the Court of Appeal extended Rossi in concluding that a similarly worded no contest clause contained in a trust would not apply to amendments…