Keading

background events that are relevant to the issues raised in this appeal. Kenton and Hilja were the beneficiaries of a family trust created by their parents, Lucille and Lewis. The trust was amended several times over the years, including in October 2015 when surviving settlor Lewis executed a final amendment to the trust providing for an equal division of the trust assets between the siblings. (Keading I, supra, 60 Cal.App.5th at p. 1120.) After Lewis passed away, in March 2016, Hilja filed an ex parte petition under section 8503 seeking Kenton’s removal as trustee, appointment of a successor trustee, and recovery of trust assets under theories of intentional interference with expected inheritance; fraud; conversion; and elder financial abuse. The petition identified the trust’s assets as follows: real property at 60 Laurel Lane, 50 Laurel Lane, and 21 Laurel Lane, in El Sobrante (hereafter the residence); two bank accounts; and various tangible personal property including automobiles, furniture, jewelry and artwork. According to the petition, in January 2016, as Lewis lay on his deathbed, Kenton fraudulently executed and recorded a deed purporting to transfer the residence from…