Judge: Robert B. Broadbelt, Case: 23STCV15942, Date: 2024-07-29 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 23STCV15942    Hearing Date: July 29, 2024    Dept: 53

Superior Court of California

County of Los Angeles – Central District

Department 53

MOVING PARTY:                 Petitioner Jeanette Oliveros  

RESPONDING PARTY:       Unopposed

Petition for Approval of Compromise of Claim for Minor Claimant Anthony Jayden Diaz

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

DISCUSSION

Plaintiff and petitioner Jeanette Oliveros (“Petitioner”) seeks court approval of the settlement made on behalf of minor claimant Anthony Jayden Diaz (“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 Joseph Heffesse, as trustee of the Coldwater Canyon Trust, Sandra B. Sternberg Heffesse, and LA Properties Heffesse LLC have agreed to pay a total of $175,000 to settle this action, of which $5,000 will be separately allocated to Minor Claimant.  (MC-350, ¶¶ 10-11.)  Of the $5,000 allocated to Minor Claimant, $1,250 will be paid to counsel for attorney’s fees and $134.35 will be paid to counsel for legal costs.  (MC-350, ¶¶ 13, 16.)  The remaining $3,615.65 will be paid or delivered to the parent of Minor Claimant, i.e., Petitioner, without bond, on the terms and under the conditions specified in Probate Code sections 3401-3402.  (MC-350, ¶ 18, subd. (b)(5); MC-350, Attachment 18b(5), Oliveros Decl., ¶¶ 1-2, 6; Prob. Code, §§ 3401, 3402.)

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 Rachel Fishenfeld is sufficient to support the request for attorney’s fees in the amount of $1,250 (representing 25 percent of the $5,000 settlement).  (Fishenfeld Decl., ¶¶ 2-3, 6-11; Cal. Rules of Ct., rule 7.955.)  The court therefore grants Petitioner’s petition.

ORDER

            The court grants petitioner Jeanette Oliveros’s petition for approval of compromise of claim on behalf of minor claimant Anthony Jayden Diaz.

            The court orders that the $3,615.65 settlement on behalf of minor claimant Anthony Jayden Diaz may be paid to plaintiff and petitioner Jeanette Oliveros pursuant to Probate Code sections 3401 and 3402.

            The court orders petitioner Jeanette Oliveros to give notice of this ruling.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

DATED:  July 29, 2024

_____________________________

Robert B. Broadbelt III

Judge of the Superior Court