Michael C. McDonald

San Diego, CA Directions

Recognized in Ones to Watch since 2023

Awarded Practice Areas

Trusts and Estates

Visit Website

858-923-8698

Works at

The Estate Lawyers APC

Biography

Michael McDonald is a partner who represents clients in litigated matters including trust disputes, elder abuse actions,breach-of-trust actions, will contests, heirship contests, contested conservatorships, and related actions. Michael has spent the entirety of his career handling these matters, as well as in civil litigation, and has earned success for countless clients, whether at trial or through advantageous and strategic settlement.

Michael joined The Estate Lawyers in May 2025 after spending years as a partner at one of San Diego’s leading trusts and estates firms, as well as years of prior experience at another of San Diego’s oldest law firms. Through his decade of practice, Michael has learned from some of the top attorneys in the industry and developed an expertise in trust and estate-related litigation to adeptly represent his clients and obtain optimal results.

While away from the office or courtroom, Michael can be found with his wife Chelsea, their two sons, and their dog, Teemu.

Locations

San Diego, California

858-358-5501

4350 Executive Drive, Suite 310
San Diego, CA 92121

Education

Arizona State University, B.S., Finance, graduated 2009
University of San Diego, J.D., graduated 2013

Bar Admissions

California, The State Bar of California, 2015

Affiliations

America Inns of Court - Member - William B. Enright Inn
Probate Attorneys of San Diego - Member
San Diego County Bar Association - Past Committee Member - “For the Record”
San Diego County Bar Association - Past Member - Section Leadership Committee
San Diego County Bar Association - Member - Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law Section

Client Testimonials

Awards & Focus

Recognized in Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch^® in America 2027 for work in:

Trusts and Estates

Additional Areas of Practice:

Litigation - Trusts and Estates
Elder Law

Awards:

Super Lawyers Rising Star - 2024-2025

News & Media

Case History

Cases

$20 Million Trust Remains Under Client’s Control After Successful Standing Challenge

Michael represented a client in Orange County trust litigation where the opposing party sought to remove the client as trustee, take control of the trust, and install herself as successor trustee.
Approximately $20 million in trust assets were at stake.
The petitioner was named in the trust as a successor trustee, but she was not a beneficiary and was not currently serving as trustee. Michael identified standing as the threshold issue and attacked the petition at the outset rather than allowing the case to move into prolonged and expensive litigation.
Opposing counsel argued that existing case law gave the petitioner authority to pursue the removal action. Michael took the opposite position: being named as a future successor trustee, without more, did not give the petitioner standing to seek the client’s removal.
The court agreed.
Michael successfully demurred to the petition on standing grounds, and the court sustained the demurrer, effectively ending the litigation. The case was dismissed, and the client retained sole control over approximately $20 million in trust assets.
The result avoided a potentially lengthy battle over control of the trust and prevented a non-beneficiary successor trustee from using litigation to displace the acting trustee.
Result: Case dismissed after successful demurrer; client remained trustee and retained sole control of approximately $20 million in trust assets.

Protected $3 Million in Trust Assets and Secured Dismissal of $6 Million in Financial Elder Abuse Claims

Michael represented a client facing a high-stakes trust contest and financial elder abuse claims involving an approximately $3 million trust and millions more in potential personal exposure.
The petitioners challenged a trust restatement that had resulted in their disinheritance and alleged financial elder abuse against Michael’s client. The stakes were significant: in addition to the trust assets at issue, the petitioners were pursuing approximately $6 million in damages against the client personally.
Michael developed an aggressive discovery strategy focused not only on defending the validity of the trust, but on uncovering the conduct that had led the trustor to disinherit the petitioners in the first place. Discovery revealed evidence supporting an unclean hands theory and helped reframe the dispute around the petitioners’ own actions.
Michael also secured critical testimony through depositions of the estate planning attorney and the trustor’s physicians. That testimony supported the trustor’s capacity, independence, and ability to make her own estate planning decisions—directly undermining central allegations being advanced in the trust contest.
The litigation strategy created substantial leverage and ultimately resulted in a highly favorable settlement. Michael’s client relinquished only $25,000 of an approximately $3 million trust, preserving approximately $2.75 million in trust assets.
Just as importantly, the trust contest and financial elder abuse claims were dismissed with prejudice, eliminating approximately $6 million in additional claimed damages against the client.
Result: Approximately $2.75 million preserved, approximately $6 million in claimed exposure eliminated, and the trust contest and elder abuse claims dismissed with prejudice.

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