Hall v. Kalfayan - 190 Cal. App. 4th 927, 118 Cal. Rptr. 3d 629 (2010)

Rule:

A prospective beneficiary of a will cannot maintain a cause of action for legal malpractice against the attorney who drafted the will but did not have it executed before the death of the testator.

Facts:

Plaintiff, a prospective beneficiary of a conservatee's will, sued an attorney for legal malpractice, alleging that the the attorney failed to complete the new estate plan for the conservatee and have it executed on her behalf by her conservator before her death, thereby depriving plaintiff of his share of the conservatee's estate. The trial court granted the attorney's motion for summary judgment, concluding that the attorney owed no duty to plaintiff, who was neither the attorney's client nor the beneficiary of an executed estate plan. Plaintiff appealed. 

Issue:

Did the attorney owe duty to the plaintiff, rendering the attorney liable for legal malpractice? 

Answer:

No.

Conclusion:

The Court of Appeal affirmed the judgment. The court concluded that plaintiff could not, as a matter of law, establish duty, a necessary element for his claim for professional negligence. According to the Court, in the absence of an executed testamentary document naming plaintiff as a beneficiary, plaintiff was only a potential beneficiary. The attorney's duty was to the conservatorship on behalf of the conservatee; the attorney did not owe plaintiff a duty of care with respect to the preparation of an estate plan for the conservatee.