California Contested Heggstad Petition and Probate Code 850 Asset Recovery Attorney

Reviewed by Jeffrey R. Loew, Managing Partner, Trust Law Partners, LLP

You are certain the family home belonged in your mother's trust, and now the relative living in it insists it was a gift to them alone. Or an investment account that should have passed to the family is empty, and the person who had access keeps changing the subject. When someone is fighting to keep property that belongs in a trust or estate, a contested Heggstad petition or a broader Probate Code section 850 petition puts the ownership question in front of a probate judge.

Trust Law Partners represents beneficiaries, heirs, and families across California who are trying to pull property back where it belongs, into a trust or a decedent's estate. We litigate against the people holding that property: a relative who retitled it, a caregiver who moved it, or a third party who refuses to give it back. Our cases involve trusts and estates of $1 million or more, with assets such as real property, investment accounts, or an interest in a family business, where the value at stake justifies a court fight.

We never represent the trustee or the person on the other side of the claim. If assets that should be yours are sitting somewhere they should not, California law gives you a direct way to go get them. If the only task is moving an uncontested asset into a trust, that is routine administration rather than the litigation we take on.

Call (626) 956-3500 for a free case evaluation.

How California Lets You Recover Property That Belongs in an Estate or Trust

Probate Code section 850 lets an interested party ask the probate court to decide who really owns a piece of property and to order it transferred into, or out of, a trust or estate. A beneficiary, heir, trustee, or personal representative can bring the petition. It is one of the most flexible tools in California probate, and in our cases it comes up in two kinds of disputes.

One starts with a title that was never fixed. The other starts with someone taking property outright.

Disputed Trust Property: When a Heggstad Claim Is Contested

A Heggstad claim starts with an asset the settlor meant to put in the trust but never retitled, such as a home refinanced and never deeded back. It becomes a dispute when someone else claims that asset: a relative who says it was a gift, an heir who would take it through probate instead, or a co-owner who holds title and will not sign it over.

California courts recognize a petition, named after the 1993 decision in Estate of Heggstad, that lets the court confirm the asset belongs to the trust when there is written evidence the settlor intended it. A signed declaration of trust, a schedule of assets, or an assignment can carry the day. In a contested case, the other side will attack that paperwork, the settlor’s capacity, or the timing of the documents, and the petition is tried like any other ownership dispute. A Heggstad petition fixes assets that were never transferred, which is different from cases where trust assets are missing because a trustee moved or mishandled them.

Property Someone Else Is Wrongfully Holding

The harder cases involve property that a person took, hid, or simply refuses to give up. A caregiver who retitled a bank account. 

A sibling who moved into the house and locked everyone out. A relative who used a power of attorney to drain funds before the death. Section 850 reaches all of it, letting the court determine the claim and order the property returned to the estate or trust where it belongs.

Both situations run through the same statute, and both can be resolved in probate court rather than a separate civil lawsuit.

When Someone Took or Hid Assets: Double Damages Under Section 859

If the court finds that a person acted in bad faith when they wrongfully took, concealed, or disposed of property belonging to a trust or a decedent's estate, that person can be ordered to pay twice the value of what they took. 

That penalty comes from Probate Code section 859, and it is one of the strongest reasons to pursue a wrongful taking rather than write the loss off. The court can also award attorney's fees and costs at its discretion.

Double damages are not automatic. They turn on how the property was taken.

What Triggers the Penalty

Section 859 applies when someone takes property in bad faith, uses undue influence in bad faith, or commits financial abuse of an elder or dependent adult. The bad-faith requirement is why these cases are built on evidence, not outrage: the timeline of the transfers, the mental state of the property owner, and the relationship between the parties all matter. Where the victim was elderly, financial abuse under Welfare and Institutions Code section 15610.30 opens an additional path to fees and recovery under section 15657.5.

How the Recovery and the Penalty Fit Together

The request for double damages usually rides inside the section 850 petition itself, so you are not filing two separate cases. You ask the court to confirm the property belongs to the trust or estate, order it returned, and impose the section 859 penalty on the person who took it. Put together, a successful petition can return the asset, add a matching penalty on top, and shift some of the legal cost onto the wrongdoer. Proving exactly what was taken, and its value, often depends on forensic accounting in estate disputes, which traces where the money or property went.

How the 850 Petition Process Works

The petition is filed in the probate division of the superior court in the county handling the trust or estate, and it lays out the facts, the property at issue, and the order you want the court to make. Because it runs through probate rather than a full civil action, it can reach a hearing sooner than a standard lawsuit.

When the other side denies wrongdoing, the petition proceeds through discovery and a hearing or trial where the judge weighs the evidence.

What wins these cases is documentation.

• Written proof of intent for a Heggstad claim: the trust schedule, a general assignment, a signed declaration.
• The paper trail of the transfer for a wrongful-taking claim: deeds, account statements, transfer records, and dates.
• Evidence of the owner's condition and the relationship when undue influence or elder financial abuse is in play.

Once the court is satisfied, it can order the property conveyed to the trust or estate, impose the section 859 penalty where bad faith is shown, and address fees. We assemble the record, file the petition, and argue it in front of the probate judge.

What to Expect, and What It Costs

Timelines depend on how hard the other side fights: a holder facing strong documents sometimes gives the asset up soon after the petition is served, while a contested recovery involving hidden transfers moves through discovery and takes considerably longer. We will give you a candid read on which one your case looks like at the first meeting.

That meeting is free. You bring what you have, we tell you whether the property is recoverable and how we would go after it, and you decide from there.

Call (626) 956-3500 to find out whether your assets can be recovered.

Why Families Bring These Cases to Trust Law Partners

Recovering property from someone who does not want to give it back is litigation, and the firm you pick should do it for a living.

• We represent claimants, not the people they are suing. Beneficiaries, heirs, and families only. We do not defend trustees or the relatives holding the assets.
• We litigate contested 850 petitions only. Disputed ownership, wrongful transfers, and holders who refuse to return assets are the cases we take; routine funding fixes are not.
• A partner runs your case. The person who evaluates it is the person who litigates it.
• The first consultation is free. You learn where you stand before spending a dollar.

That focus is what lets us tell you early whether a recovery is worth pursuing.

The Attorneys Handling Your Case

The firm's partners litigate asset-recovery petitions in California probate courts.

Mark L. Russakow, Founder. Mark founded Trust Law Partners to represent beneficiaries and families in contested trust and estate matters. He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of California, Irvine, and earned his law degree at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles. He is admitted before all California state courts, the United States District Court for the Central District of California, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Jeffrey R. Loew, Managing Partner. Jeff leads the firm's litigation practice and represents heirs and beneficiaries in section 850 asset-recovery petitions, financial elder abuse claims, and disputes over property wrongfully kept from an estate or trust.

Whichever partner takes your matter stays with it through resolution.

What a Successful 850 Petition Can Achieve

A petition under section 850 can produce a court order transferring the disputed property into the trust or estate, returning real property, investment accounts, business interests, or other assets to where the owner intended them to go. 

Where the court finds a bad-faith taking, section 859 allows a penalty of twice the property's value, and the judge may order the responsible person to pay attorney's fees and costs. In elder financial abuse cases, additional remedies may apply.

Results depend on the facts and the strength of the documentation, and no two petitions are alike, so an outcome in one case does not forecast another. We will be straight with you about what the evidence in your case can support.

Heggstad and 850 Asset Recovery Questions, Answered

These come up constantly once a family realizes an asset is in the wrong hands.

The Asset Is Not Going to Recover Itself

Every month a wrongful holder keeps property, the trail gets colder and the excuses get more rehearsed. California gives beneficiaries a direct route back to what belongs in the estate, and it rewards moving before the evidence fades. If you believe an asset is in the wrong hands, have an attorney who does this work look at it.

Call (626) 956-3500 for a free case evaluation with Trust Law Partners.