Divorce is usually a lengthy process of reaching agreements pertaining to assets and family time. Once a divorce case is filed with the court, a temporary injunction is put in place, where neither party can dispose of marital assets. The court will eventually issue its ruling about how assets are divided. But what happens if one party to the divorce changes beneficiary designations to assets while the divorce case is pending but dies before the divorce decree is issued? Do the new designations stand?

California Probate Code 850 is infamously known throughout the state as the basis for a Heggstad Petition, named after the landmark case, Estate of Heggstad. In this case, the Grantor of a revocable living trust had transferred trust property back into his personal name for refinancing purposes. The grantor died before he could transfer the property back into the trust. The court applied Section 850 and allowed a post-humous transfer of the real property back into the revocable trust.

From the announcement of the 2023 limits on contributions to retirement accounts to a new proposed rule for classifying independent contractors, we have recently seen significant developments in estate planning and business law. To ensure that you stay abreast of these legal changes, we have highlighted some noteworthy developments and analyzed how they may impact your estate planning and business law practices.