Royals

I. BACKGROUND

Chambers Daniel Adams passed away October 14, 2019, at age 99. Following his death, a dispute arose between his wife, Lu, and Royals, his

All further undesignated statutory references are to the Code of Civil

Procedure.

1 only child and daughter from a prior marriage, over the ownership of funds held by BofA in various bank accounts. Royals is the trustee and sole beneficiary of the Adams Trust, a trust established in the early 1990’s by Adams and his former wife of 56 years, Cornelia Adams, who passed away in 2008.2 Lu, Adams’s second wife, was 59 years old when she married Adams, then 95 years old, in 2015. On October 24, 2019, acting in her capacity as trustee of the Adams Trust, Royals filed a verified petition under section 850 of the Probate Code alleging three claims—first for return of trust property, second for undue influence, and third for financial elder abuse. She named both Lu and BofA as defendants on the first claim. She named only Lu on the second and third claims. In support of these claims, Royals alleged generally as follows. For many years prior to his death, Adams’s estate included a home in Orinda and a second home in Sea Ranch; Adams had…