Probate Code Section 1003 So Allows.
In Berwick v. Walsh, Case No. G054632 (4th Dist., Div. 3 Oct. 30, 2018) (unpublished), the issue on appeal was whether a probate court could award GAL fees for a mother’s husband to be paid out of mother’s share of the trust. Temporary successor trustee contested that the court could order disbursement from mother’s trust, with the fees being just over $12,000. The 4/3 DCA, in a 3-0 opinion authored by Justice Goethals, affirmed. Probate Code section 1003 expressly provides that the GAL’s expenses, including compensation and attorney’s fees, “shall be … paid as the court orders, either out of the property of the estate involved or by the petitioner or from such other source as the court orders.” Given that the statute allows payment from “such other source as the court orders,” the probate court did not abuse its discretion in ordering GAL fees paid from mother’s trust.
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