Judge: Michelle Williams Court, Case: 22AHCP00385, Date: 2023-01-12 Tentative Ruling

Please notify Dept. 1’s courtroom staff by email (SMCDept1@lacourt.org) or by telephone (213-633-0601) no later than 8:30 a.m. the day of the hearing if you wish to submit on the tentative ruling rather than argue the motion.  If you submit on the tentative, you must immediately notify the other side that you will not appear at the hearing.  If you submit on the tentative and elect not to appear at the hearing, the opposing party may nevertheless appear at the hearing and argue the motion.  Please keep in mind that appearing at the hearing and simply repeating the arguments set forth in the papers is not a good use of the court’s time or the parties’ time.

 

Case Number: 22AHCP00385    Hearing Date: January 12, 2023    Dept: 1

22AHCP00385           ANGELA GRANADOS, et al. vs EVANGELINA GRANADOS

Petitioners Angela Granados, Richard Granados, Alicia Gonzalez, and Cynthia Holt-Norman’s Motion to Transfer Under Local Rule 2.13(A)

TENTATIVE RULING:  Petitioners’ Motion to Transfer Under Local Rule 2.13(A) is GRANTED.  Los Angeles Superior Court Case 22AHCP00385 Angela Granados, et al. vs Evangelina Granados, et al is ordered transferred from the Alhambra Courthouse in the Northeast District to the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in the Central District for reassignment to a probate department.

Background

On September 20, 2022, Petitioners Angela Granados, Richard Granados, Alicia Gonzalez, and Cynthia Holt-Norman filed a Petition for: (1) Declaratory Relief; (2) Return of Estate Personal Property P.C. §850 and §859; (3) Damages for Breach of Trust and Breach of Fiduciary Duties; (4) Imposition of Constructive Trust or Equitable Lien; (5) Removal of Trustee and Confirmation Of Named Successor Trustee; and (6) Internal Affairs of Trust P.C. §17200. The case was assigned to Judge Colin P. Leis in Department 3 of the Alhambra Courthouse.

On September 27, 2022, Petitioners filed a Motion to Transfer Under CCP § 396b, which Judge Leis denied on December 8, 2022 without prejudice to filing the appropriate motion in Department 1.

Motion

On December 16, 2022, Petitioners filed the instant motion seeking to transfer the action to the Central District.

The motion is unopposed.

Motion to Transfer Between Courthouses

Standard

LASC Local Rule 2.3(b)(2) authorizes Department 1 to transfer civil cases from one judicial district to another, including when the case was filed in an improper district, or for the convenience of witnesses or to promote the ends of justice. (LASC Local Rule 2.3(b)(2).)

LASC Local Rule 2.3(a)(1)(A) provides “All Proceedings under the Probate Code. All Conservatorship, Guardianship, Probate, and Trust proceedings must be filed in the Central District except in the following cases which may be filed in the North District: Conservatorship and Guardianship when the petitioner or proposed conservatee/ward reside in the North District, Decedent’s Estates when the decedent resided or the Petitioner resides in the North District, or Trust where the trustee’s principal place of administration is the North District.” (See also LASC Local Rule 4.3(a) (“With the exception of the North District, all probate matters are filed and heard in the Central District at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse.”).) 

The Action Was Filed in the Wrong District

The Alhambra Courthouse, where the instant case was assigned, is located within the Northeast District of the Los Angeles Superior Court. (LASC Local Rule 2.2(b).) Accordingly, a probate case cannot be assigned to the Alhambra Courthouse under Local Rule 2.3(a)(1)(A). (See also LASC Local Rule 4.3(a).)

The Court notes Petitioners utilized both a Civil Case Cover Sheet and a Probate Case Cover Sheet when filing their petition. Though the Civil Case Cover Sheet Addendum and Statement of Location certified that the case was “properly filed in the Central District” and noted it was being permissively filed in the Central District, it also used an Alhambra address within the Statement of Reason and Address. A Civil Case Cover Sheet is not required for proceedings to be filed under the Probate Code. (Cal. R. Ct., rule 3.220(b)(1).)

The petition filed by Petitioners expressly seeks relief under the Probate Code including pursuant to Probate Code section 17200, which is within the exclusive jurisdiction of the probate departments. (Estate of Bowles (2008) 169 Cal.App.4th 684, 695 (“the probate department has exclusive jurisdiction of the first amended section 17200 petition, but only concurrent jurisdiction of the civil complaint.”).) It is clear from the civil case cover sheets that Petitioners intended to file their petition in the Central District. The Court finds the petition filed in 22ACHP00385 should have been filed in the Central District as a probate matter and the motion to transfer is GRANTED.