Judge: Mark A. Young, Case: 24SMCV04324, Date: 2025-05-07 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 24SMCV04324    Hearing Date: May 7, 2025    Dept: M

CASE NAME:           Johnson v. Dale L. & Olive S. Anderson Revocable Living Trust UA, et al.

CASE NO.:                24SMCV04324

MOTION:                  Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings

HEARING DATE:   5/7/2025

Legal Standard

A defendant’s motion for judgment on the pleadings may be made after the time to demur has expired and an answer has been filed. (CCP § 438(f).) A motion by a defendant may be made on the grounds that (1) the court “lacks jurisdiction of the subject of one or more of the causes of action alleged” or (2) the complaint or cross-complaint “does not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action against that defendant.” (CCP § 438(c).) 

A motion for judgment on the pleadings has the same function as a general demurrer but is made after the time for demurrer has expired. Except as provided by statute, the rules governing demurrers apply. (Cloud v. Northrop Grumman Corp. (1998) 67 Cal.App.4th 995, 999.) “A motion for judgment on the pleadings is akin to a general demurrer; it tests the sufficiency of the complaint to state a cause of action. The court must assume the truth of all factual allegations in the complaint, along with matters subject to judicial notice.” (Wise v. Pacific Gas and Elec. Co. (2005) 132 Cal.App.4th 725, 738, citations omitted.) Further, like a general demurrer, a motion for judgment on the pleadings “does not lie as to a portion of a cause of action, and if any part of a cause of action is properly pleaded, the [motion] will be overruled.” (Fire Ins. Exchange v. Superior Court (2004) 116 Cal.App.4th 446, 452.)  

ANALYSIS

Defendant Dale L. & Olive S. Anderson Revocable Living Trust UA moves for judgment on the pleadings.  Defendant argues that the trust is being sued instead of the trustees of the trust, and the limited situations in which a trust may be sued directly do not apply. Defendant is correct. A trust is not a person capable of suing or being sued. (Presta v. Tepper (2009) 179 Cal.App.4th 909, 914) “As a general rule, the trustee is the real party in interest with standing to sue and defend on the trust’s behalf.” (Estate of Bowles (2008) 169 Cal.App.4th 684, 691.) “A claim based on a contract entered into by a trustee in the trustee’s representative capacity, . . . may be asserted against the trust by proceeding against the trustee in the trustee’s representative capacity . . ..” (Prob. Code, § 18004.) Here, Plaintiff improperly sued the Trust itself rather than the Trustee in her representative capacity.

Accordingly, the Defendant-Trust’s motion for judgment on the pleadings is GRANTED.