Matthew W. McMurtrey

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. 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. An active member of the legal community, Mr. McMurtrey is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, a peer-elected organization committed to maintaining excellence in the trust and estate legal field and to continually improving the practice of trust and estate law. He previously served as Chair of the Executive Committee for the California Lawyer's Association Trusts and Estates Section (TEXCOM) as well as former Chair of TEXCOM's Litigation Subcommittee. He was also the Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Trusts and Estates Quarterly, a publication of the Trusts and Estates Section of the California Lawyer's Association, Additionally, Mr. McMurtrey was a former trustee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association and served as Chair of the Executive Committee’s Trusts and Estates Law Section. Mr. McMurtrey is recognized as a “Notable Practitioner” by Chambers and Partners for High Net Worth Private Wealth Disputes, the world's leading legal ranking guide. He has also been named to Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Lawyers list for Probate Litigation, and is ranked by Southern California Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers for Trusts & Estates Litigation. Mr. McMurtrey obtained his J.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law, and his B.A. from the University of California, Riverside, where he graduated cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. Awards and Honors Super Lawyers® Selectees Matthew W. McMurtrey included in a Super Lawyers® list Honors 500 Leading Lawyers, Probate Litigation – Lawdragon, 2025 "Notable Practitioner" - Chambers and Partners High Net Worth Private Wealth Disputes Southern California Super Lawyers, 2015 - present Best Lawyers in America Other Sources of Feedback About Matthew W. McMurtrey Included on the 2026Southern California Super Lawyers list Past Lists 2025 Southern California Super Lawyers list 2024 Southern California Super Lawyers list 2023 Southern California Super Lawyers list 2022 Southern California Super Lawyers list 2021 Southern California Super Lawyers list 2020 Southern California Super Lawyers list 2019 Southern California Super Lawyers list 2018 Southern California Super Lawyers list 2017 Southern California Super Lawyers list 2016 Southern California Super Lawyers list 2015 Southern California Super Lawyers list 2008 Southern California Super Lawyers list 2007 Southern California Super Lawyers list

• Managing Partner

• “Know Your Role When Representing Clients with Diminished Capacity in Conservatorship Proceedings,” Beverly Hills Bar Association, Speaker
• "Preparing witnesses to testify, and preparing for evidentiary hearing that's not a trial: putting on your best case, and possibly coordinating with other side(s) to expedite," Aviva K. Bobb Advanced Probate Volunteer Panel Attorney Training Symposium, 2017, Speaker
• "Pre-Mortem Probate Disputes in the Context of Conservatorship", San Fernando Valley Bar, Probate and Estate Planning Section, Lecturer
• "Death, Debts and Taxes: Creditors’ Claims Against a Decedent", California Continuing Education of the Bar, Lecturer
• "Common Issues to Be Prepared for in Litigation and Probate", National Business Institute, Lecturer
• Motion Practice: Demurrer, Anti-SLAPP, MSA/MSJ, Los Angeles County Bar Association Litigation Symposium, April 2026

• California, 1996

• 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 - 2010
• Los Angeles County Bar Association, Trusts and Estates Section, Member, Executive Committee
• Moot Court Honors Program, UCLA, Member