Goebner v. Superior Court

Cite as A171241

Filed on April 30, 2025

First Appellate District, Div. Three

Litigation – Deadline to File Demurrer in Probate Case

Summary – A demurrer may be filed at any time at or before the initial hearing in a probate case.

Thomas McDonald filed a petition contesting amendments to the Declaration of Trust of Judith E. Stratos 2000 Trust, including an amendment that named William Goebner as successor trustee.

More than four months after McDonald’s petition was served, and two days before the hearing. Goebner filed a demurrer to seek the dismissal of McDonald’s claims. The trial court overruled Goebner’s demurrer as untimely pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure §430.40, which requires a demurrer to be filed within 30 days after service of the complaint. Goebner petitioned for a writ of mandate, arguing that Probate Code §1043, not Code of Civil Procedure §430.40, applies to demurrers filed in a probate case.

The appellate court agreed and issued a writ of mandate. The court held that pursuant to Probate Code §1043, an interested person may appear and make a response or objection in writing at or before the hearing, and a demurrer is a form of objection to a petition or complaint. That said, the court did not express an opinion about the demurrer’s merits.

Amundson v. Catello

Cite as D082158

Filed on March 20, 2025

Fourth Appellate District, Div. One

Litigation – Standing for Partition Actions

Summary: Heirs of a probate estate do not have standing in a partition action until a final order of distribution is entered.

Leslie Knoles (Decedent) and Ruth Catello (Catello) co-owned real property originally as joint tenants with rights of survivorship. A few weeks before her death, Decedent recorded a quitclaim deed she had granted to herself that, if valid, severed the joint tenancy and created a tenancy in common with no right of survivorship.

Following the Decedent’s death, the Decedent’s siblings (her intestate heirs) initiated probate proceedings, which included the property as an asset of the estate. Catello filed a competing probate petition and also sued two of the siblings in a quiet title action. Catello claimed she owned the entire property and that the quitclaim deed was invalid. The siblings responded with a cross-claim to partition the property by sale. The estate administrator was never included as a party to the civil action. The court entered an interlocutory judgment for partition by sale, and determined that the owners of the property were Catello and Decedent, and the siblings were identified as the estate successors in interest/beneficiaries. Catello appealed, claiming the siblings lacked standing because their entitlement to the Decedent’s estate had not yet been established.

The appellate court reversed. The current owners of a property can bring a partition action. The appellate court held that the siblings, while intestate heirs, were not deemed the current owners of the property until a final order of distribution confirmed title to them, assuming the property was not sold or otherwise disposed of during the period of estate administration.