Superior Court of California 

County of Los Angeles 

Department 78 

 

SAEED NOVEL, et al.,

Plaintiffs, 

vs.

BANK OF AMERICA, et al.,

Defendants. 

  Case No.: 23STCV04089

 

JANET FARAHI MOGHADAM’S MOTION TO SUBSTITUTE AS SUCCESSOR IN INTEREST  TO PLAINTIFF

Plaintiff Janet Farahi Moghadam’s motion to substitute herself as successor in interest for decedent Saeed Novel is granted.

Moving party to provide notice.

DISCUSSION

Plaintiff Janet Farahi Moghadam moves to substitute herself as successor in interest to Decedent Saeed Moghadam.

California Code of Civil Procedure section 377.31 provides that the decedent’s personal representative or, if none, the decedent’s successor in interest may continue a decedent’s pending action. (Code Civ. Proc., § 377.30; see Adams v. Superior Court (2011) 196 Cal.App.4th 71, 78-79.) A successor in interest is the beneficiary of the decedent’s estate or other successor in interest who succeeds to a cause of action or to a particular item of the property that is the subject of the cause of action. (Code Civ. Proc., § 377.11.) Section 377.33 provides that the court in which an action is continued may make any order concerning parties that is appropriate to ensure proper administration of justice, including the appointment of the decedent’s successor in interest as a special administrator or guardian ad litem. 

Section 377.32 provides that a person who seeks to commence such an action as the decedent’s successor in interest must file an affidavit or declaration providing certain information, including the decedent’s name, date and place of decedent’s death, and statements regarding whether the estate has been administered and that the affiant or declarant is the successor in interest on decedent’s claim. (Id., § 377.32(a).) A certified copy of the decedent’s death certificate must also be attached to the affidavit or declaration. (Id., § 377.32(c).) 

Here, Moghadam submits an affidavit in support of her motion stating:

1. Decedent’s name is Saeed Novel. (Moghadam Decl., ¶1.)

2. Decedent passed away on October 25, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Id., ¶3.)

3. No proceeding is now pending in California for the administration of Decedent’s estate. (Id., ¶5.)

4. The affiant is Decedent’s successor in interest as defined in Code Civ. Pro. Section 377.11 and no other person has a superior right to continue the action. (Id., ¶¶9-10.)

A certified copy of Decedent’s death certificate is attached to the motion. 

DATED: March 18, 2024

                                                                     ________________________________ 

Hon. Jill Feeney 

Judge of the Superior Court