Judge: William A. Crowfoot, Case: 21STCV30649, Date: 2022-12-20 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 21STCV30649    Hearing Date: December 20, 2022    Dept: 27

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FOR THE COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES - CENTRAL DISTRICT

On August 18, 2021, plaintiff Sarah Kelly (“Kelly”) and the Estate of William Stano (“Decedent”) (collectively, “Plaintiffs”) filed this action against defendants General Partners Asset Holdings, Inc. (“General Partners”), South Bay Barbara Owner LLC (“South Bay”), and Mindy Meadows.  South Bay was dismissed as a defendant without prejudice on March 29, 2022, and Mindy Meadows’s name was corrected to Mindy Meadows LP (“Meadows”).  Plaintiffs allege that on August 26, 2019, Decedent died in an apartment fire.  Kelly is Decedent’s mother. 

On September 1, 2022, nonparty Eric Stano (“Intervenor”) filed this motion for leave to intervene as a plaintiff in this action.  Intervenor claims that he is a parent of Decedent and that this action was filed by Kelly, who is his estranged spouse, without his knowledge. 

A nonparty shall petition the court for leave to intervene by noticed motion or by ex parte application.  The petition shall include a copy of the proposed complaint in intervention or answer in intervention and set forth the grounds upon which intervention rests.  (Code Civ. Proc., § 387, subd. (c).)  The court shall, upon timely application, permit a nonparty to intervene in the action or proceeding if the person seeking intervention claims an interest relating to the property or transaction that is the subject of the action and that person is so situated that the disposition of the action may impair or impede that person’s ability to protect that interest, unless that person’s interest is adequately represented by one or more of the existing parties.  (Code Civ. Proc., § 387, subd. (d)(1)(B).)  An heir is entitled to intervene as a matter of right in a pending wrongful death action commenced by a personal representative, so long as the heir demonstrates their statutory entitlement to relief under section 387, subdivision (d)(1)(B).  (King v. Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (2022) 82 Cal.App.5th 440, 456.)    “[T]he purpose of the “one-action” rule is to provide defendants the ability to resolve a cause of action for wrongful death in one litigation subject to one judgment for lump-sum damages to be shared by all heirs.”  (Id., Cal.App.5th at p. 453.) 

The motion is unopposed and it is undisputed that Intervenor is the parent of Decedent, Decedent had no spouse or children, and Intervenor and Kelly are his nearest relatives.  Preventing Intervenor from joining the survival action as a plaintiff-in-intervention would impair his interests, due to the “one-action” rule and the fact that he would otherwise be barred from filing a separate action due to the statute of limitations.  Accordingly, the motion is GRANTED.  Intervenor is ordered to file his proposed Complaint-in-Intervention within 5 days of the date of this order.  

Moving party to give notice.

Parties who intend to submit on this tentative must send an email to the Court at SSCDEPT27@lacourt.org indicating intention to submit on the tentative as directed by the instructions provided on the court website at www.lacourt.org.  Please be advised that if you submit on the tentative and elect not to appear at the hearing, the opposing party may nevertheless appear at the hearing and argue the matter.  Unless you receive a submission from all other parties in the matter, you should assume that others might appear at the hearing to argue.  If the Court does not receive emails from the parties indicating submission on this tentative ruling and there are no appearances at the hearing, the Court may, at its discretion, adopt the tentative as the final order or place the motion off calendar.