Hernandez

In the underlying action, the probate court invalidated an amendment to a trust that made appellant Patricia Claudine Kieferle trustee and sole beneficiary of the trust estate. The probate court ruled that the amendment failed under Probate Code section 21350 et seq., which establishes a rebuttable presumption that testamentary transfers to “care custodians” are the product of fraud, duress, menace or undue influence. 1 We conclude that the court erred in failing to apply the exception to the presumption found in section 21351, subdivision (a), where the transferor is “related by blood or marriage” to the transferee. We therefore reverse the probate court’s orders.

RELEVANT FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. First and Second Amendments to Gertrude G. Kieferle’s 2004 Trust

Gertrude G. Kieferle was bom in 1920. Appellant Patricia Claudine Kieferle (Claudine) is Gertrude’s stepdaughter from Gertrude’s marriage to *424 Eugene J. Kieferle. 2 Although Eugene had several daughters, including Claudine, Gertrude had no children of her own. In 1994, respondents Florentina Hernandez and Emigdio Hernandez became Gertrude and Eugene’s next-door neighbors. The following year,…