Judge: Theresa M. Traber, Case: 21STCV35536, Date: 2023-04-17 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 21STCV35536    Hearing Date: April 17, 2023    Dept: 47

Tentative Ruling

Judge Theresa M. Traber, Department 47

HEARING DATE:     April 17, 2023                                    TRIAL DATE: November 28, 2023

CASE:                         Tara Lea, et al. v. American Honda Motor Company, Inc., et al.

CASE NO.:                 21STCV35536

MOTION FOR SUBSTITUTION OF SUCCESSOR IN INTERST

MOVING PARTY:               Plaintiffs Tara Lea and Van Duong

RESPONDING PARTY(S): None as of 4/12/23

STATEMENT OF MATERIAL FACTS AND/OR PROCEEDINGS: 

            This is a lemon law case, filed on September 27, 2021, involving a 2016 Honda Pilot which allegedly suffers from various defects, including transmission and electrical defects.

            It is represented that Plaintiff Van Duong (“Decedent”) has passed away. Plaintiffs move to substitute Decedent’s wife, Tara Lea, as successor in interest.  

TENTATIVE RULING:

Plaintiffs’ Motion to Substitute Successor in Interest is GRANTED.

DISCUSSION:

Motion to Substitute Successor in Interest

            California Code of Civil Procedure section 377.31 provides that the decedent’s personal representative or, if none, the decedent’s successor in interest may continue a decedent’s pending action. (Code Civ. Proc., § 377.30; see Adams v. Superior Court (2011) 196 Cal.App.4th 71, 78-79.) A successor in interest is 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 the cause of action. (Code Civ. Proc., § 377.11.) Section 377.33 provides that the court in which an action is continued may make any order concerning parties that is appropriate to ensure proper administration of justice, including the appointment of the decedent’s successor in interest as a special administrator or guardian ad litem. 

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 certain information, including the decedent’s name, date and place of decedent’s death, and statements regarding whether the estate has been administered and that the affiant or declarant is the successor in interest on decedent’s claim. (Id., § 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).)

Tara Lea, Decedent’s wife, moves the Court for an order appointing her as the successor in interest of Plaintiff Van Duong, now deceased, and transferring the right to maintain an action.

Tara Lea submits an affidavit in support of her motion stating:

1.      Decedent’s name is Van Duong. (Lea Decl., ¶3.)

2.      Decedent passed away on March 25, 2022. (Id., ¶4.)

3.      No proceeding is now pending in California for the administration of Decedent’s estate. (Id., ¶5.)

4.      Lea is Decedent’s wife and successor in interest as defined in Code Civ. Pro. Section 377.11. Additionally, she is Decedent’s surviving heir as he passed away without a will and was married to Lea at the time of his passing. No other person has a superior right to commence the action or proceeding or to be substituted for the Decedent in the pending action. (Id., ¶¶6-7.)

Lea also attaches a certified copy of Decedent’s death certificate to the motion. (Lea Decl., Exh. 1.)

The unopposed motion is GRANTED.

Moving party to give notice.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated:   April 17, 2023                                   ___________________________________

                                                                                    Theresa M. Traber

                                                                                    Judge of the Superior Court

            Any party may submit on the tentative ruling by contacting the courtroom via email at Smcdept47@lacourt.org by no later than 4:00 p.m. the day before the hearing. All interested parties must be copied on the email. It should be noted that if you submit on a tentative ruling the court will still conduct a hearing if any party appears. By submitting on the tentative you have, in essence, waived your right to be present at the hearing, and you should be aware that the court may not adopt the tentative, and may issue an order which modifies the tentative ruling in whole or in part.