Wells Fargo Bank v. Cornell CA4/3

FACTS

Janet2 and Clark were married in December 1998. Clark’s first wife, Barbara, to whom he was married for 54 years, died three months earlier. Clark and Barbara had three children, all of whom were adults by the time of Barbara’s death. Clark and Barbara were very financially successful and did extensive estate planning, including the execution and funding of several trusts. When Clark and Janet married, Janet also had three grown children. At the time they were married, Clark and Janet signed what the trial court described as a prenuptial agreement. Janet acknowledged that Clark’s property would remain separate, and that any income derived from that property would also be separate property, as would any other property purchased from the separate property funds. Any conversion to community property would require a written agreement. On April 12, 1999, Clark and Janet executed the Janet and Clark Cornell Trust (the Community Property Trust) funded by community property assets, including those then or later contributed by Clark. The numerous trusts that comprise or involve Clark’s estate plan include: – The “A” (or Survivor’s) Trust of the Clark and Barbara June Cornell Trust…