What happens at a Heggstad Petition hearing?

A Heggstad Petition allows a successor trustee of a trust to claim property inadvertently left out of a trust.

Most commonly, Heggstad Petitions are used by successor trustees to claim homes or other real property that were listed in a decedent’s trust but were not properly deeded to the trust in a recorded document. But Heggstad Petitions can also be used to claim other property, such as bank accounts, investment accounts, and personal property that should have been included among the trust property.

Once your Heggstad Petition is written, verified, and filed, you will be given a hearing date. The hearing is the critical event in the case. In many cases, the court will grant the Heggstad Petition at the first hearing, if the petitioner’s evidence is properly verified and proves the matters alleged.

At the hearing, the judge will start by confirming whether everyone entitled to notice of the petition has received such notice. If anyone has not received notice, the judge may give you an opportunity to submit a waiver, if you have a properly signed and verified wavier ready to present or filed before the hearing. If proper notice has been given, then the judge will consider the substance of your petition. The judge will want to see that you have submitted evidence with your petition proving that the subject property was supposed to be in the decedent’s trust. In most cases, the key evidence will be a “Schedule” to the trust listing the subject asset. If the subject asset is a house, it is usually a good idea to submit the most recent deed. If the subject asset is a house, it is usually a good idea to submit a recent bank statement. In all cases, a death certificate and a copy of the subject trust must be submitted.

If the judge has concerns about your petition, they will most likely give you a continuance of 30 to 60 days to fix any issues, submit new evidence, and come back for a second hearing. You might even get a third chance. But after that, the judge will consider denying the petition for lack of evidence.