Walstad v. Maloney CA2/6

Filed 3/18/21 Walstad v. Maloney CA2/6 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION SIX

DAVID WALSTAD, 2d. Civil No. B300586 (Super. Ct. No. 56-2016- Plaintiff and Appellant, 00479026-PR-TR-OXN) (Ventura County) v.

EILEEN MALONEY et al., as Trustees, etc.,

Defendants and Respondents.

Eileen Maloney and Patricia Farber are co-trustees of the Lambert Loucks Trust. In May 2017, the co-trustees petitioned for approval of the Trust accounting covering the period from November 2006 to March 2017. Trust beneficiary David Walstad objected. The probate court overruled Walstad’s objections, approved the accounting, and entered judgment. Walstad contends: (1) the co-trustees charged the Trust unreasonable fees, (2) the co-trustees should have rented out a residence owned by the Trust during the eight years prior to selling it, (3) we should order disgorgement of all co-trustee

fees, (4) he is entitled to double damages and attorney fees, and (5) the probate court should have admitted an appraiser’s estimate into evidence.1 We affirm. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY A. The Trust Loucks executed the Trust in July 1981. He amended it several times, including to appoint Maloney (his daughter-in- law) and Carol Milligan (his longtime bookkeeper) as co-trustees. Milligan served in that role until her death in 2014, at which time Farber (Loucks’s former accountant) became a co-trustee. She and Maloney continue to serve as co-trustees. As a co-trustee, Maloney regularly met with Trust administrators, including financial advisors, attorneys, accountants, and bookkeepers. She compiled materials for the Trust’s estate tax return, provided input to those managing Trust assets, paid utilities on Trust properties, and sorted through Trust possessions. She received monthly trustee fees for performing these duties from January 2007 (two months after Loucks’s death) to April 2015. In total, she was paid nearly $275,000 in fees (about $2,700 per month). The Trust paid Milligan $800 in monthly bookkeeping fees, the same amount Loucks had paid her during his lifetime. In total, the Trust paid Milligan $76,100 between December 2006 and August 2014. Farber has never been paid for her services as a co- trustee.