Howard

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. Petition In July 2020, Carol filed a petition in this case under Probate Code section 172002 seeking an order clarifying the parties’ rights under Andrew’s estate planning documents.3 We summarize Carol’s allegations as follows.

2 Further statutory references are to the Probate Code unless otherwise indicated.

3 This case originated in 2014, but it is unclear from the appellate record what transpired between then and when Carol filed the petition in 2020.

2 1. Interested Parties and Estate Planning Documents Andrew married Carol’s mother in 1950 when Carol was three years old. Andrew raised Carol as his daughter, and helped her when she became a single mother with the raising of her daughter, Staci. Carol’s mother died in 2006. Carolyn and Debbie are Andrew’s nieces. On October 18, 2007, Andrew executed the following estate planning documents: (1) a last will and testament, which named Carol the executor; (2) a revocable trust (the Trust), which held title to Andrew’s main asset (a condominium unit) and which designated Andrew the original trustee, and Carol the successor trustee and primary beneficiary; (3) a power of attorney…