Mota

This litigation arises out of a series of acrimonious disputes between the beneficiaries of a revocable trust created by Paulino Ponce, now deceased. Petitioner Silvia Mota, a beneficiary and former trustee, seeks a writ of mandate compelling the probate court to vacate its order denying her motion to compel further responses to her discovery requests. The court concluded Mota’s failure to file a Probate Code section 850 petition precluded her from propounding discovery on real party in interest and cobeneficiary, Daniel Villalobos, and from obtaining an offset against his share of the trust estate.

We hold (1) Mota is entitled to conduct discovery relevant to her objections to the distribution petition; and (2) she need not file a section 850 petition to establish her entitlement to an offset against Villalobos’s share of the trust estate. Accordingly, we grant the petition compelling the court to vacate its order.

FACTS

On June 1, 1999, Ponce created the trust (Trust) and named Mota, his youngest daughter and business manager, as trustee. Ponce’s eight children, including Mota and Villalobos, are the sole beneficiaries of the Trust. Ponce died on August 3, 2002.…