Heston v. Heston
Jul 15, 2015OUTCOME: Plaintiffs prevailed; trust was invalidated and Plaintiffs obtained monetary settlement
Sacramento County Superior Court Case #34-2013-00148491-PR-TR-FRC Heston v. Heston/The matter of the Heston Trust In this case, Walnut Creek trust lawyer and elder abuse litigation lawyer, Konstant ... ine "Kosta" Demiris, represented the Plaintiffs, two of the surviving children of the deceased Barbara J. Heston, who filed suit against their brother Paul Heston, his wife Janet Heston, and their attorney Sean Patrick Gjerde (disbarred and incarcerated during the period of litigation for many notorious crimes, including, 36 counts of misconduct http://members.calbar.ca.gov/fal/Member/Detail/217467; see also http://www.calbarjournal.com/October2011/TopHeadlines.aspx ). After about two-years of elder abuse litigation and trust litigation Plaintiffs prevailed by court order on July 15, 2015 invalidating the trust; they also obtained a monetary settlement. Factual Summary Defendant Gjerde was alleged to be both the estate planning attorney for Barbara Heston and Defendants Paul and Janet Heston. Paul admitted at deposition to driving his mom to meetings with Mr. Gjerde and being present at the meetings and execution. Paul admitted that he and his wife hired Mr. Gjerde as their estate planning attorney. Paul admitted that the deed to his mother’s home was deeded by Mr. Gjerde’s office to his wife Janet, while his mother was alive and then re-deeded to Paul. Medical records and depositions of Barbara Heston’s treating physician and treating psychiatrist revealed that Barbara suffered from Alzheimer’s dementia, physiological changes to her brain, and was determined during the relevant periods before, during, and after execution of the purported trust and deed to real property to lack the required legal mental capacity to execute the legal documents and legal instruments. The underlying civil complaint alleged elder abuse, including financial elder abuse, isolation, and abandonment. In the trust petition, Plaintiffs petitioned the Court to invalidate Barbara J. Heston’s purported trust, which disinherited her church, children, and all her grandchildren to give everything she owned to Paul.
