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thetentative.com / index / cm03 / hartwell-family-trust · removal-and-accountingMember preview
CM03 · Hon. R. AldanaProbate · Law & Motion22 April 2026
In re Hartwell Family Trust— Petition to Remove Co-Trustee & Compel Accounting
Granted in partPetition · § 15642 · RemovalCase 30-2023-01277045
Tentative ·Posted 21 April; the court may modify or withdraw before the 22 April hearing.
Summary
Petition under Probate Code §§ 15642 and 17200 to remove co-trustee Marcus Hartwell and compel an accounting. Granted in part: the court suspends the co-trustee pending a verified accounting due 6 June 2026, and reserves the removal question until the accounting is filed. Surcharge claims are continued for hearing on 17 July.
The court's analysis
“The co-trustee has not rendered an accounting since 14 March 2022, despite written demand under § 16061. Suspension is appropriate under § 15642(e) where the trustee's failure to account threatens trust assets. The court declines, however, to remove the trustee on this record alone; petitioner's surcharge theory is not yet supported by competent evidence…”
Our analysis
Department CM03 prefers suspension over outright removal in § 15642 motions — eight of the last twelve such petitions on this bench were granted in part on the same posture. The court's reluctance to reach surcharge without a fresh accounting tracks the broader pattern: do the accounting first, then sort the dollars. Expect the 6 June accounting to be the next pressure point.
Petitioner
Eleanor Hartwell-Vance
Marrin & Yates, LLP
Helena R. Marrin · SBN 208 441
Respondent
Co-Trustee M. Hartwell
Cavanaugh Probate Group
David A. Cavanaugh · SBN 154 902
Plate I · A ruling page in the Database — In re Hartwell Family Trust, Department CM03. Names fictionalized.
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