On the non-critical exceptional zeros of Katz $p$-adic $L$-functions for CM fields

The primary goal of this article is to study $p$-adic Beilinson conjectures in the presence of exceptional zeros for Artin motives over CM fields. In more precise terms, we address a question raised by Hida and Tilouine on the order of vanishing of Katz $p$-adic $L$-functions associated to CM fields, by means of a leading term formula we prove in terms of Rubin-Stark elements. In the particular case when the CM field in question is imaginary quadratic, our leading term formula and its consequences we record herein are unconditional.