Daou

I. INTRODUCTION

Imad “Ed” Daou and respondent Carmen Hamady,1 a married couple who had two children, executed a revocable trust in 2006. The trust estate included community property, as well as property that the couple had specified by a written property ownership agreement was Ed’s separate property. The trust instrument provided for the revocation of the trust as follows: “During the joint lifetime of Settlors, this Trust may be revoked, in whole or in part, with respect to the community property of Settlors by an instrument in writing signed by either Settlor and delivered by certified mail to all current acting Trustees and the other Settlor, and with respect to separate property by an instrument in writing signed by the Settlor who contributed that property to the Trust, delivered by certified mail to the Trustees.” On July 6, 2011, Carmen filed for dissolution of marriage. Two weeks later, on July 20, 2011, Ed executed a written revocation of the trust. Carmen’s family law attorney received notice of the revocation the following day. On or about July 26, 2011, Ed allegedly executed a will in which his siblings, appellants Audi Daou, Majid Daou, and May Daou, were named as…