Judge: Michael Small, Case: 23STCV22845, Date: 2024-03-28 Tentative Ruling

Inform the clerk if you submit on the tentative ruling. If moving and opposing parties submit, no appearance is necessary.

Case Number: 23STCV22845    Hearing Date: March 28, 2024    Dept: 57

The demurrer of Defendants Crown Financial Partners LLC and Jonathan Beck (collectively, "Beck") to the fourth cause of action for negligence in the Plaintiffs' complaint is sustained with leave to amend for two reasons.

First, the existence of a duty owed by  the defendant to the plaintiff is an essential element of a negligence.  Here, the allegations in the Plaintiffs' complaint fail to show that Beck assumed a duty to the Plaintiffs' deceased family member Erez Talmor, whose unfortunate passing is the genesis of the Plaintiffs' lawsuit, to ensure that premiums on Erez's life insurance policy were paid so that the policy did not lapse.

Second, the statute of limitations on a negligence claim is two years.  On the face of the allegations in the complaint, Plaintiff Leora Talmor's negligence claim against Beck is time-barred because the claim accrued more than two years before she sued Beck.  Leora's attempt to delay accrual through the discovery rule is unavailing.  

The Court will elaborate on its reasons for sustaining the demurrer at the hearing this morning.