Jason Rubin is out as the trustee on the Flint trust but not before asking for more money.
Since taking over as trustee in the summer of 2024, Rubin has repeatedly characterized the trust as illiquid.
In December 2024, he stated that the trust had, “no funds, significant liabilities, and hostility from the Primary Beneficiaries.”
On March 31, 2025, Rubin submitted a declaration in which he stated, “there was zero liquidity to fund anything (in the trust).”
He continued in the same declaration, “I learned about various issues related to the three real properties owned by the Trust, and the total lack of liquidity (emphasis mine) to resolve any of them.”
Months later, found over $150,000 to pay himself, his attorney, and others from the trust.
At the time, his attorney, Justin Gold, provided this statement.
The Trust was illiquid and then my client obtained a Court Order to obtain a loan to pay specific expenses, including a mortgage that was in serious arrearage. In other words, you are referring to a filing by my client from 2024. Regarding the fees, they were approved by the Court and Mike Flint consented to that approval while in Court on June 12, 2025.
The Flint trust once consisted of three properties worth millions.
It was set-up by Joyce and Mitchell Flint for their sons, Mike and Guy Flint.
Mitchell Flint died first, but Joyce Flint left instructions in her will before she died in 2019.
One of those instructions was that the trustee charge the trust no more than $10,000 in fees.
Rubin has ignored that command.
He and his attorney did not respond to an email for comment.
Earlier this month he asked a judge in a hearing for another $200,000 in fees.
I reached out to everyone involved with this trust- including attorneys for secondary beneficiaries- but only Mike Flint provided a response.
Jason Rubin on his own admission states he was not the right fit for the Flint trust since becoming the trustee. Nothing could be further from the truth. Everything he did was against what my mom (the Trustor) would have wanted.
He has failed to act as a fiduciary. He put his needs above those of the Primary beneficiaries.
Joyce Flint would never have let off a fraudster off Srcot free. She was a probate Conservator that protected her clients from the likes of a Jason Rubin.
Whether the courts picked Jason or Jason accepted may be debated but the bottom line the courts did not question that he was asking for $51,000 after only 3 months service.
The Flint trust should have left a legacy to Joyce and Mitchell Flint and a windfall to their sons.
Guy and Mike had a beautiful place to live, with income that should have provided for both their lifestyles.
The trust stated that if Mike and Guy died childless the assets transferred to contingent beneficiaries- UCLA, Cedar Sinai, Israel, and others.
Mitchell was one of the “fathers of the Israel Air Force” while Joyce attended UCLA. She passed away at Cedars Sinai.
Joyce and Mitchell would have provided for their sons while leaving millions to the places which helped them in life.
None of that happened, and it’s because unscrupulous court actors, along with incompetent and corrupt judges, allowed the trust to bleed money while ignoring Joyce’s written instructions.
Sandra DeMeo
The main culprit is Sandra DeMeo.
DeMeo was the original trustee, and she ignored Joyce’s wishes by setting up a settlement agreement in which she was paid far more than $10,000.
The settlement agreement gave Mike and Guy half the estate.
Mike Flint previously told me that despite it being an agreement on paper he was coerced into agreeing.
The agreement did one critical thing; it was structured so that it could be broken up.
This allowed another scrupulous attorney to enter the fray.
Demeo and her attorney, Jeff Coleman, did not respond to emails for comment.
Pamela Koslyn
As the trust was being abused, Mike Flint got into a dispute with Pamela Koslyn over rent in a property.
The dispute went to arbitration, and the arbitrator said Flint owed Koslyn.
Koslyn didn’t go to Flint to collect, but to the trust.
Because DeMeo structured the trust to be broken up, Koslyn found a way in, and she became party to the litigation.
Koslyn did not respond to an email for comment.
Below is an interview with Mike Flint from 2024 detailing the affair.
The breakthrough
2024 looked to be a year of breakthroughs. The trustee, Cheri O’Laverty, hired Rod Stern- who was implicated in another Orange County, California probate scandals- and Stern discovered something key.
O’Laverty replaced DeMeo after the latter was removed as trustee.
When DeMeo filed her settlement agreement, she did not serve any of the secondary beneficiaries. They would have objected since her plan left them with nothing.
More importantly, it violated California law.
In August 2024, Orange County probate Judge Brad Erdosi ruled there was extrinsic fraud by DeMeo and set aside the settlement agreement. He also ruled Koslyn had no standing to sue.
The trust was free of the vultures and there was a chance it would thrive.
The horror show
The next day everyone was back in court again, only in front of Orange County Probate Judge Ebrahim Baytieh.
Judge Baytieh issued a key order in another corrupt Orange County case in 2023; his order helped expose misdeeds in that case.
Prior to being a judge, he was engulfed in scandal when it was revealed he systematically withheld evidence from defendants while a prosecutor in the Orange County District Attorney’s Office (OCDAO).
Judge Baytieh ignored Judge Erdosi’s order and ruled on a motion from Koslyn to remove Cheri O’Laverty as trustee.
O’Laverty is Mike Flint’s longtime girlfriend, and she took over as trustee after DeMeo.
Neither Mike nor Guy wanted her removed.
That paved the way for Rubin to be appointed and Koslyn to remain.
It took more than a year more before another judge finally ruled that Koslyn had no standing (for a second time).
Rubin pilfers
Rubin came on and refused to do anything Guy and Mike wanted.
They wanted DeMeo sued and to do a reverse mortgage, to inject millions into the estate.
Rubin said he couldn’t do a reverse mortgage. He said suing DeMeo would be costly with no guarantees.
Rubin initially asked off the case in December 2024 but wasn’t removed until May 29, 2026, only he remains on to handle special litigation.
Namely to defend the trust from the appeal Koslyn filed.
Meanwhile, the new trustee is Jeffrey Siegel. Guy and Mike want him as trustee; however, Siegel has a conflict and can’t sue DeMeo.
Last week, the trust was back in court to reinstall Cheri O’Laverty to do that. Judge Megan Wagner heard arguments, ruled that Cheri was removed for cause and refused to reappoint her.
The trust remains in limbo. The tragedy, Mike Flint told me, is that most probate fights are caused because family members fight each other.
That didn’t happen here. This trust was raided and pillaged by outside forces while the family presented a united front.
As such, the court at every step ignored the wishes of the beneficiaries- Guy and Mike- to implement policies which benefited others.
Post-script
Check out the fundraiser for Orange County.
Here are the previous articles in the series. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8. Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17, Part 18, Part 19, Part 20, Part 21, Part 22, Part 23, Part 24, Part 25. Part 26, Part 27, Part 28, Part 29, Part 30, Part 31, Part 33, Part 34, Part 35, Part 36, Part 37, Part 38, Part 39, Part 40, Part 41, Part 42, Part 43, Part 44, Part 45, Part 46, Part 47, Part 48, Part 49, Part 50, Part 51, Part 52, Part 53, Part 54, Part 55, Part 56, Part 57, Part 58, Part 59, Part 60, Part 61, Part 62, Part 63, Part 64, and Part 65.
This is the probate machine in miniature. The family presents a united front. The trust settlor’s instructions are clear. The beneficiaries want preservation, accountability, and recovery. Yet outside actors keep finding ways to enter, bill, delay, appeal, and survive. Joyce Flint reportedly capped trustee fees at $10,000. The court ecosystem treated that command like a suggestion. DeMeo, Koslyn, Rubin, and the judges who let the chaos continue all belong in the same accountability file. A trust meant to provide dignity became a feeding trough. Probate reform starts with one rule: fiduciaries serve families, not themselves.