Media Mention
Estate battle likely to stall amid Reiner case
Newsweek
Private Client Services Partner Marc M. Stern shared his insights with Newsweek on what an estate battle involving Rob Reiner could look like following the filmmaker’s recent death.
Excerpts:
Marc M. Stern, partner at Greenberg Glusker and an expert in private client services, told Newsweek that California law broadly bars anyone who “feloniously and intentionally kills” a decedent from inheriting property or serving as a fiduciary under that person’s will or trust.
Under Probate Code section 254, a final criminal conviction or guilty plea is conclusive. In cases without a conviction, probate judges may apply a lower “preponderance of evidence” standard to determine whether a killing was intentional. However, Stern noted that courts rarely intervene in criminal matters and typically defer to criminal verdicts.
