Zapata Law helps families through the generations
Probate & Estate Litigation
Julio Zapata practices in probate litigation in the areas of will contests, estate litigation and trust litigation. Mr. Zapata represents personal representatives, trustees and beneficiaries. Under appropriate circumstances, Julio Zapata's practice includes representing beneficiaries on a contingent fee basis. In the probate and estate litigation area Julio Zapata has published and unpublished Court of Appeals decisions with favorable outcomes for his clients.
Mr. Zapata's will contest practice includes claims of mental capacity or testamentary capacity, including claims regarding senile, dementia, delusion, and unsound mind at the time various documents may have been created, claims that a person may meet the criteria for vulnerable adult status, claims that a person may be subject to financial exploitation, claims that a will maker was subjected to fraud, coercion or undue influence during its creation and implementation, power of attorney cases, and claims that a will is a forgery or does not conform to the legal requirements of probate law.
His estate litigation practice includes claims on behalf of the decedent or the decedent's probate estate or heirs, and in cases when a third-party files suit against the probate estate.
Mr. Zapata's trust litigation practice includes disputes over different interpretations of a trust instrument, validity of a trust, trustee accounting, removal of trustees or executors, breach of fiduciary duties by a trustee, executor or administrator, remainder beneficiaries contesting distributions to income beneficiaries, challenging investment decisions, challenging distribution of principal, disputes regarding exemptions to insurance proceeds, disputes concerning non-probate transfers that effect the trust corpus, and appeals.
Representative Cases
Represented beneficiary seeking recovery of assets improperly removed from estate arising from alleged susceptibility to vulnerable adult status and/or financial exploitation of decedent and achieved a favorable judgment following trial.
Represented a surviving spouse in multi-million dollar estate dispute among other beneficiaries under the will and achieved a favorable settlement.
Represented various beneficiaries seeking thousands of dollars in damages arising out of alleged susceptibility to vulnerable adult status and/or financial exploitation of decedent and achieved a favorable settlement.
Represented personal representative and trustee in multi-million dollar estate against a variety of claims and achieved a favorable settlement.
Represented beneficiaries in proceeding seeking invalidation of will based on incapacity and undue influence and achieved a favorable settlement.
