Judge: Robert B. Broadbelt, Case: 21STCV13193, Date: 2024-08-07 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 21STCV13193    Hearing Date: August 7, 2024    Dept: 53

Superior Court of California

County of Los Angeles – Central District

Department 53

MOVING PARTY:                 Petitioner Maria Lorena Concepción Holguin Puentes

RESPONDING PARTY:       Unopposed

Petition for Approval of Compromise of Claim for Minor Claimant Grecia Ruby Bedolla

The court considered the moving papers filed in connection with this petition.  No opposition papers were filed.

DISCUSSION

Petitioner Maria Lorena Concepción Holguin Puentes (“Petitioner”) seeks court approval of the settlement made on behalf of minor claimant Grecia Ruby Bedolla (“Minor Claimant”) in this action.

The compromise of a minor’s disputed claim for damages is valid only after it has been approved, upon the filing of a petition, by the court.¿ (Prob. Code, § 3500.)¿ The petition must be verified by the petitioner, must contain a full disclosure of all information that has any bearing upon the reasonableness of the compromise, and must be prepared on Judicial Council form MC-350.¿ (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 7.950.)¿ 

Defendants Mar Vista Fund, LLC, Mar Vista Entitlement Fund, LLC, Manuel Cara Edralin, Jr., individually and as trustee of the Edralin Manuel C 2005 Trust, J&S Properties Enterprises, Inc., and Beach City Capital Management, LLC have agreed to pay a total of $2,000,000 to settle this action, of which $51,438.07 will be separately allocated to Minor Claimant.  (MC-350, ¶¶ 10, 11, subd. (b), Attachment 11b(5).)  Of the $51,438.07 allocated to Minor Claimant, $12,859.52 will be paid to counsel for attorney’s fees and $1,002.18 will be paid to counsel for litigation costs.  (MC-350, ¶¶ 13, 16.)  The remaining $37,576.37 will be invested in a single-premium deferred annuity, subject to withdrawal only on authorization of the court.  (MC-350, ¶¶ 16, 18, subd. (b)(3).)

The court has reviewed the petition and finds the settlement to be fair and reasonable, and in the best interest of Minor Claimant.  The court further finds that the declaration of David Campbell Smith is sufficient to support the request for attorney’s fees in the amount of $12,859.53, representing 25 percent of the $51,438.07 settlement.  (Smith Decl., ¶¶ 3, 9.)  The court therefore grants Petitioner’s petition.

ORDER

            The court grants petitioner Maria Lorena Concepción Holguin Puentes’s petition for approval of compromise of claim on behalf of minor claimant Grecia Ruby Bedolla.

            The court sets an Order to Show Cause re: proof of purchase of annuity (as to minor claimant Grecia Ruby Bedolla) for hearing on October 11, 2024, at 8:30 a.m., in Department 53.

            The court orders petitioner Maria Lorena Concepción Holguin Puentes to give notice of this ruling.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

DATED:  August 7, 2024

_____________________________

Robert B. Broadbelt III

Judge of the Superior Court