Okay For Trustee To Appear In Propria Persona.

The specific facts in this case are not important but the legal holding is. Relying on precedent, the trial court ruled that an executor or personal representative may not appear in propria persona in court proceedings outside the probate context on behalf of a decedent’s estate because representing another person or entity’s interest in a lawsuit constitutes the unauthorized practice of law.  Noting that “if the sole trustee is also the trust’s sole settler and beneficiary, the rationale of these [precedential] cases ceases to apply: no interests are at stake except those of one person,” the appellate reversed, stating: “We conclude that a sole trustee of a revocable living trust who is also the sole settlor and beneficiary of the trust assets he or she is charged to protect does not appear in court proceedings concerning the trust in a representative capacity.  Instead, he or she properly acts in propria persona and does not violate the bar against practicing law without a license.  ([Business and Professions Code section 6125].)”  (Aulisio v. Bancroft (Cal. App. Fourth Dist., Div. 3; October 30, 2014) 230 Cal.App.4th 1516, [179 Cal.Rptr.3d 408].)