Trusts and Estates

Ca. Trs. & Estates Quarterly 2023, VOLUME 29, ISSUE 3

LITIGATION ALERT

Written by Michael S. Brophy, Esq., Courtney A. Sorensen, Esq., Craig S. Weinstein, Esq., Sara Z. May, Esq., and Joubin Hanassab, Esq.

I. THE FACT THAT A TRUST, NOT A TRUSTEE, WAS THE NAMED PLAINTIFF AND LITIGATED A MATTER FOR SEVERAL YEARS DOES NOT RENDER THE ENTIRE PROCEEDING VOID AB INITIO, AS THE TRIAL COURT SHOULD HAVE ALLOWED A CURATIVE AMENDMENT TO NAME THE TRUSTEE AS THE PLAINTIFF.

Jo Redland Trust, U.A.D. 4-6-05 v. CIT Bank, N.A. (2023) 92 Cal.App.5th 142

The First District Court of Appeal held that when a complaint mistakenly brings a lawsuit in the name of a trust, which is an unrecognized person under the law, rather than in the name of the trustee, and the oversight goes unnoticed for several years, the trial court should allow a curative amendment naming the correct legal entity rather than render the entire proceeding void ab initio.

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