California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from Mirabella v. Holloway, A150616 (Cal. App. 2018):
In Estate of Lowrie, supra, 118 Cal.App.4th 220, the court of appeal held the decedent's granddaughter, a beneficiary and "successor representative," had standing to bring an elder abuse claim against her uncle, the trustee of the decedent's estate. (Id. at pp. 222-224, 231.) The defendant argued, among other things, that the plaintiff lacked standing because he, as trustee, was the decedent's personal representative, citing section 377.30. (Id. at pp. 228-229.) The court concluded the purposes of the Elder Abuse Act required rules on standing that would "induce[] interested persons to report elder abuse and to file lawsuits against elder abuse and neglect." (Id. at p. 230.) It also held standing was proper under the reasoning of Olson v. Toy, supra, 46 Cal.App.4th 818, stating, "[The uncle], as the trustee and major beneficiary of the trust, cannot be expected to bring an elder abuse lawsuit against himself." (Estate of Lowrie, at p. 231.)
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