Judge: Steven A. Ellis, Case: 20STCV14261, Date: 2024-01-05 Tentative Ruling
Case Number: 20STCV14261 Hearing Date: February 7, 2024 Dept: 29
Tentative:
Petitioner filed her Petition to Approve the Minor’s Compromise on December 21, 2023. The Court issued an order on January 5, 2024, identifying certain issues that needed to be addressed. Petitioner filed a petition with the Court on January 10, 2024, but certain issues identified in the prior order have not been addressed:
1. Medical Expenses: There are still issues regarding the information in Item No. 12. Dr. Hamzah appears to have charged $6,725 and agreed to accept $4,000 as payment in full. That is not a reduction of $4,000. (Item 12b(5)(b)(E).) It appears to be a reduction of $2,725, but it may be less, if he has been paid in part by Medi-Cal. In any event, it is unclear, and the math in Item 12b(5)(b) is incorrect.
Item 12a(4) also appears to be incorrect. According to Item 16(b), $4,212.42 from the gross settlement amount will be used to pay medical expenses (presumably that is the sum of $4,000 to Dr. Hamzah and $212.42 for the Medi-Cal lien). But Item 12a(4) states that the amount of medical expenses to be paid or reimbursed from the proceeds is $0.
The Court cannot approve the Petition until these items are corrected.
2. Filed Order: The Court’s order of January 5 identified two issues with the proposed order (MC-351). First, Item No. 1 of the order is blank. Second, there were math issues in the proposed order. No new order has been submitted.
Petitioner must submit a new order that includes the information for Item No. 1; that identifies the gross amount or value of the settlement in Item No. 6; that in Item No. 8(b) identifies all fees and expenses to be paid from the gross settlement amount prior to distribution of the net amount to the claimant.
The Court cannot approve the Petition until these items are corrected.
As such, the Hearing on Petition to Confirm Minor’s Compromise is CONTINUED so the aforementioned deficiencies can be remedied.