court ordered trust

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

If grandfathers property was in common law wifes name when he died and his daughter sued wife to get estate but she died before before case resolved so her two children carried on lawsuit. Court judgement orders a trust to be made. The two children are to get all propery that was in common law wifes name when she dies.
But they fail to mention there are other surviving grandkids so these ones are not included in trust. Can the grandchildren who were left out challenge the trust to be included? Mind you the common law wife is not a blood relative of any of them but has acted like a grandmother to all of them for 50 years. The father of the kids who were left out of trust is the grandfathers biological son and brother to aunt who started suit before she passed away. The father is also deceased.
Can trust or court order be amended through the courts as it was not equitable distribution for all surviving grandchildren?

what state and when were they joined by common law marriage?

court order reply

California

even though I know Ca does not recognize common law marriage they lived as man and wife for 50 years.

California does not have common law marriage, period. They do recognize palimony in certain situations but once either partner has died, I would suspect it nearly impossible for the estate to prevail on such a claim.

If grandfathers property was in common law wifes name when he died and his daughter sued wife to get estate but she died before before case resolved so her two children carried on lawsuit. Court judgement orders a trust to be made. The two children are to get all propery that was in common law wifes name when she dies.

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who died? and whose children?

reply

the children who are the court ordered beneficiaries are the 2 adult children of the aunt, the aunt is the daughter of the grandfather, the adult children are the adult grandchildren of the grandfather. The grandfather is dead, the aunt is dead and the common law wife is now dead.
so we have two adult grandchildren getting everything and there are two other surviving grandchildren on the deceased grandfathers side: who are getting nothing. the last two I mentioned want to sue to be included.

My references say that California abolished common law marriage in 1895. So, they were not husband and wife.

Nobody here can know what went on with that lawsuit. The only advice for the other grandchildren is to consult with an attorney.

xerboom47 said:

the children who are the court ordered beneficiaries are the 2 adult children of the aunt, the aunt is the daughter of the grandfather, the adult children are the adult grandchildren of the grandfather. The grandfather is dead, the aunt is dead and the common law wife is now dead.
so we have two adult grandchildren getting everything and there are two other surviving grandchildren on the deceased grandfathers side: who are getting nothing. the last two I mentioned want to sue to be included.

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well, how the grandfathers side of the family ended up with anything has got me wondering. I see no reason they should have prevailed so what anything anybody is due cannot be ascertained by the information provided. It would be best to consult an attorney that can review the actual facts of the case and make some recommendation.