Williams v. McCullough CA2/1

BACKGROUND

A. The Trust Annabelle Herman created the operative Trust on February 14, 2004. The Trust assets consisted of real property located in Hawaii and Sherman Oaks. The Trust was held for the benefit of Herman’s sole living offspring, Barbara Goldsmith. Williams, Herman’s grandson by her deceased daughter Michelle, was designated the beneficiary in the event of Goldsmith’s death. Herman also had a brother, Irwin Weiner. On November 5, 2006, Herman passed away. McCullough was appointed successor trustee on November 17, 2006. The trust corpus consisted of a four-unit residential property in Sherman Oaks, a condominium unit in Hawaii, and $130.18 in cash. The value of the trust estate in November 2006 was $1,002,630.18. Cash was needed to care for Goldsmith. McCullough facilitated the sale of the Hawaii condominium unit in May 2007, hiring a law firm and a realtor. McCullough facilitated the sale of the Sherman Oaks four-unit property in April 2008. Prior to the sale of the Sherman Oaks property, Weiner was living in one of the units. McCullough hired attorneys to enter into a settlement agreement on behalf of the Trust with respect to Weiner’s potential life estate in the…