Zanich

FACTS

All four siblings were actively involved in Wilhelmina’s care prior to her death. In 2000, Wilhelmina was 81 years old and living at home with her grandson, Eric, who is Jan’s son. In early 2000, Marileen became estranged from the rest of her siblings. According to Marileen, Wilhelmina “asked [Marileen] to help her because she said [Jan] wanted to take her to a lawyer and have everything signed over, and . . .when I confronted [Jan] with it, she just wouldn’t speak to me anymore about it.” On August 16, 2000, Wilhelmina established a revocable trust, which divided her estate equally among her children upon her death. Wilhelmina also set up a durable power of attorney, naming Jan as her attorney-in-fact, and a health care directive pursuant to Health and Safety Code section 7186.5.2 In the health care directive, Wilhelmina certified she was of sound mind and willfully and voluntarily declared that she did not want her life artificially prolonged

1 For ease of reference and with all due respect, we will refer to each of the Osinga family members by their first names. 2 Section 7186.5 related to the execution of a declaration concerning life-sustaining treatment. It was…