Wins

The probate court had appointed GMSRs’ clients – professional fiduciaries – as special administrators to manage decedent’s businesses after her death. When the special administrators examined the companies’ finances, they discovered evidence suggesting that appellant had engaged in mismanagement and fraud. They locked him out of the business, and he responded by resisting a petition to appoint them as general administrators. The probate court made the general appointment over appellant’s objections. He appealed, claiming that he was entitled to an evidentiary hearing on his objections – and that the absence of such a hearing was a structural error, requiring reversal.

The Court of Appeal disagreed and affirmed. The court adopted GMSR’s arguments that appellant had waived any right to an evidentiary hearing and that appellant failed to raise any material contest to the appointment petition.

California Court of Appeal Opinion – View Document