Matthew McMurtrey

Practice Areas

Estate litigation

Trust litigation

Conservatorship litigation

Estate, probate and trust mediation

Estate, probate and trust appeals

Professional Memberships

American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, Fellow

American Bar Association, Member

California Lawyers Association, Trusts & Estates Section, 2020-2021 Vice-Chair, Chair of the Litigation Subcommittee, Member of the Executive Committee

California Lawyers Association, Trusts & Estates Section, 2021-22 Chair of Executive Committee (TEXCOM)

California Lawyers Association, Trusts & Estates Section, Past Co-Editor-in-Chief of Trusts and Estates Quarterly

California State Bar, Trusts & Estates section, Past Executive Editor of Trusts and Estates Quarterly

California State Bar, Trusts & Estates section, Past Managing Editor of Trusts and Estates Quarterly

International Network of Boutique and Independent Law Firms (INBLF), Member

Los Angeles County Bar Association, Past Chair, Executive Committee

Los Angeles County Bar Association, Trusts and Estates Section, Chairperson of Symposium Sub-Committee, Executive Committee, 2007 to 2010

Los Angeles County Bar Association, Trusts and Estates Section, Member, Executive Committee

Moot Court Honors Program, UCLA, Member

Awards

Work Highlights

Representative examples of Mr. McMurtrey's practice include prosecuting and defending will and trust contests, pursuing creditor's claims in decedents' estates, seeking interpretation of wills and trusts, and prosecuting and defending surcharge claims against trustees. Mr. McMurtrey has successfully represented a trustee petitioner at trial, and respondent on appeal, in an action to determine that her efforts to reform a trust to correct a drafting error would not be a contest. In another case, he successfully defended a trustee against a surcharge petition and obtained court approval of the trustee's voluminous accounting (approximately 5,000 pages) based on the Uniform Prudent Investor Act.

Experience

Matthew W. McMurtrey focuses his practice exclusively on probate litigation, with a particular emphasis on trusts and estates. His practice includes litigation at all levels of California's judicial system. He has successfully tried matters before the Probate Department of the Superior Court and has also handled appeals before several districts of the California Court of Appeal, resulting in multiple published appellate decisions.

Mr. McMurtrey serves as an advocate for a spectrum of clients, including high-net-worth institutions and individuals seeking to defend their claims and enforce their rights. His result-oriented approach offers each client an honest, unbiased, and realistic assessment of his or her case.

Education