In Re Estate of Manuel

Law Offices of Larry D. Lewellyn, Larry D. Lewellyn; Mazur & Mazur, Janice R. Mazur and William E. Mazur, Jr., for Contestant and Appellant and for Objector and Appellant Larry Lewellyn.

Law Offices of Efrem A. Clark and Efrem A. Clark for Objector and Appellant Dawn Clark-Johnson.

Tredway, Lumsdaine & Doyle, Joseph A. Lumsdaine; Law Offices of Robert G. Splinter and Min N. Thai for Petitioner and Respondent.

CROSKEY, Acting P. J.

Under Code of Civil Procedure section 2033.420, a party who unreasonably denies a request for admission may be required to pay the requesting party its reasonable expenses (including reasonable attorneys fees) incurred in proving the truth of the matter at trial. In this case, a will contestant, Nancy L. Brown, denied requests for admission which, if admitted, would have resolved the entire case in favor of the executor, Terri Wilson. When Wilson then prevailed at trial, she sought an award of costs of proof in the amount of all of her legal fees incurred after the date of the denial of the requests for admission. The trial court granted the motion, ordering Brown and her counsel, Attorney Larry Lewellyn and Attorney Dawn Clark-Johnson, to pay Wilson…