Judge: Serena R. Murillo, Case: 20STCV27132, Date: 2022-12-20 Tentative Ruling
Case Number: 20STCV27132 Hearing Date: December 20, 2022 Dept: 29
TENTATIVE
Plaintiff Felicia
Williams’s Motion for Appointment
of Successor in Interest is DENIED.
Legal Standard
CCP section 377.31 provides that “[o]n motion after the death of a person
who commenced an action or proceeding, the court shall allow a pending action
or proceeding that does not abate to be continued by the decedent’s personal
representative or, if none, by the decedent’s successor in interest.” (Code
Civ. Proc., § 377.31.)
CCP section 377.32 provides that a person who seeks to commence such an
action as the decedent’s successor in interest must file an affidavit or
declaration providing the following:
1.
The decedent’s name.
2.
The date and place of the decedent’s death.
3.
“No proceeding is now pending in California for
administration of the decedent’s estate.”
4.
If the decedent’s estate was administered, a copy of
the final order showing the distribution of the decedent’s cause of action to
the successor in interest.
5.
Either of the following, as appropriate, with facts
in support thereof:
A. “The affiant or
declarant is the decedent’s successor in interest (as defined in Section 377.11
of the California Code of Civil Procedure) and succeeds to the decedent’s
interest in the action or proceeding.”
B. “The affiant or
declarant is authorized to act on behalf of the decedent’s successor in
interest (as defined in Section 377.11 of the California Code of Civil
Procedure) with respect to the decedent’s interest in the action or
proceeding.”
6.
“No other person has a superior right to commence
the action or proceeding or to be substituted for the decedent in the pending
action or proceeding.”
7.
“The affiant or declarant affirms or declares under
penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing
is true and correct.”
(Code Civ. Proc., § 377.32(a).) A certified copy of the decedent’s death
certificate must also be attached to the affidavit or declaration. (Id., §
377.32(c).)
“‘Decedent’s successor in interest’ means the beneficiary of the
decedent’s estate or other successor in interest who succeeds to a cause of
action or to a particular item of the property that is the subject of a cause
of action.” (Code. Civ. Proc., § 377.11.) A “beneficiary of the decedent’s
estate” means “if the decedent died without a will, the sole person or all of
the persons who succeed to a cause of action, or to a particular item of
property that is the subject of a cause of action, under Sections 6401 and 6402
of the Probate Code or, if the law of a sister state or foreign nation governs
succession to the cause of action or particular item of property, under the law
of the sister state or foreign nation.” (Code of Civ. Proc., § 377.10.)
In turn, Probate Code section 6402 provides, in pertinent part that “the
part of the intestate estate not passing to the surviving spouse, under Section
6401, or the entire intestate estate if there is no surviving spouse, passes as
follows: ¶ (a) To the issue of the decedent ….”
Discussion
Since the time of the filing of Plaintiff’s Complaint, Plaintiff has
died. In light of her death, Lisa Monquie Williams moves for an order
permitting her substitution as the Successor in Interest to Plaintiff’s causes
of action.
On October 10 and November 14, 2022, the Court continued this matter to
allow Plaintiff to provide a clarification as to whether Lisa is Plaintiff’s
mother or daughter, to file a new declaration providing the place of Decedent’s
death, and to file a certified copy of Plaintiff’s death certificate. At the
hearing on November 14, 2022, the Court warned Plaintiff that it was continuing
the hearing for the last time. However, as of December 16, 2022, Plaintiff has yet
to submit the missing information.
Accordingly, the Court denies Plaintiff’s motion to appoint Lisa Monquie
Williams as her successor in interest.
Conclusion
Plaintiff Felicia
Williams’s Motion for Appointment
of Successor in Interest is DENIED.
Moving party is ordered to give notice.