Colvis

BACKGROUND

Petitioner is one of five adult siblings; the others are Silvio Garaventa, Jr., Marie Louise Adler, Joseph Garaventa, and respondent Louisa Binswanger (Trustee).2 When the siblings’ surviving parent, Mary

1 All undesignated section references are to the Probate Code.

2 For convenience, we will refer to the nonparty family members by

their first names. No disrespect is intended.

1 Garaventa, died in 2015, Trustee became the trustee of the family trust (Trust). The terms of the Trust provide that, after payment of expenses and specific bequests, the balance of the Trust is to be distributed evenly among five subtrusts for the benefit of the five siblings and their children. The Trust has not yet been distributed to the subtrusts. The Trust’s primary asset is 70 percent of the shares of the family business (the Garaventa Entities). The five siblings comprise the Board of Directors of the Garaventa Entities. In 2015, a probate case was initiated when Trustee filed a petition for instructions. In April 2020, Petitioner and Joseph filed the underlying verified petition (the Petition) seeking certain information from Trustee relating to the Trust, a review of Trustee’s…