Oliveira

A widow sued her stepsons, a law firm, a lawyer, and a paralegal, over an estate plan that purportedly divested her of the 50 percent share of the marital estate that she would have received from her husband as the surviving joint tenant of the properties they held together in joint tenancy. The estate plan served to sever all of the joint tenancies and transfer the husband’s 50 percent share in the properties to a trust for the benefit of the two stepsons, to the exclusion of the widow.

Before trial, the widow settled with the stepsons. After a jury awarded the widow $200,000 in damages against the law firm, the lawyer, and the paralegal, the court reduced the award to zero. On appeal, the widow claims the court erred in making a Code of Civil Procedure section 877 offset against the jury award. She has failed to meet her burden to show error. We affirm.

I

FACTS

A. Allegations of the Second Amended Complaint

Elaine Oliveira (Elaine) filed a second amended complaint against Richard Neil Oliveira II (Rick) in his capacity as trustee of the Richard Neil Oliveira *1352 Trust dated April 26, 2008 (the trust), Patrick Neil Denmark (Patrick), Citadel Law Offices and…