"Richard died in March 2014 at the age of 81. His estate was valued at $18 million. Richard's 2012 estate planning documents, prepared by appellants, disinherited respondents and Peter. Richard's entire estate was left to his fourth wife, Elizabeth Grossman (Elizabeth), even though she was independently wealthy. Richard married Elizabeth in 2000, and they remained married until his death."
Following Richard's death, the disinherited relatives sued the drafting attorney of Richard's estate plan for legal malpractice and prevailed at the trial court level. This decision was then appealed to the California Court of Appeal.
"The sole issue on appeal is whether appellants owed a duty of care to respondents even though respondents were not their clients. "Whether [such] a duty exists is a question of law that we independently assess." (Gordon, supra, 88 Cal.App.5th at p. 554;"
"In Gordon the Court of Appeal stated: "We hold, as the courts before us uniformly have, that a nonclient third party can maintain a malpractice action only if there is clear, certain and undisputed evidence of the client's intent to benefit the third party, or to benefit the third party in the way [the third party] claims . . ." (Gordon, supra, 88 Cal.App.5th at p. 564.) The third party must show that the client's attorney knew or reasonably should have known of this evidence when the alleged malpractice occurred. Attorneys are not clairvoyants capable of ascertaining the unexpressed intent of their clients. (See id., at p. 556 [nonclient plaintiff must "establish[] that the client, in a clear, certain and undisputed manner, told the lawyer, `Do X,' (where X benefits the plaintiff)"].) Because the evidence of Richard's alleged intent to leave his estate to respondents instead of Elizabeth is not clear, certain, and undisputed, as a matter of law the evidence is insufficient to show that appellants owed a duty of care to respondents in preparing the 2012 restatement of the ARG Trust. Wakeman's testimony, together with the supporting testimony of Elizabeth, Laurel Luby, and Meredith Rattay, shows that the evidence of Richard's alleged intent was disputed.
If Richard had intended to leave his estate to respondents, there would have been no need for him to have obtained the letter from Dr. Miao attesting to his capability of "making competent financial and estate planning decisions." Wakeman advised Richard to obtain the letter because Richard said he wanted to disinherit his children and grandchildren and leave his entire estate to his independently wealthy fourth wife. The imposition of malpractice liability in these circumstances would not only be unjust, it would also "place an `intolerable' `burden' on the legal profession." (Gordon, supra, 88 Cal.App.5th at p. 559.)"
Grossman v. Wakeman (2024) ____ Cal.App.4th ____
