Trusts and Estates
Amundson v. Catello
Cite as D082158
Filed March 20, 2025
Fourth District, Div. One
By Golnaz Yazdchi
Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP
https://www.sheppardmullin.com
Headnote: Litigation – Standing for Partition Actions
Summary: Heirs of a probate estate do not have standing in a partition action until a final order of distribution is entered.
Leslie Knoles (Decedent) and Ruth Catello (Catello) co-owned real property originally as joint tenants with rights of survivorship. A few weeks before her death, Decedent recorded a quitclaim deed she had granted to herself that, if valid, severed the joint tenancy and created a tenancy in common with no right of survivorship. Following Decedent’s death, the Decedent’s siblings (her intestate heirs) initiated probate proceedings, which included the property as an asset of the estate. Catello filed a competing probate petition, and also sued two of the siblings in a quiet title action. Catello claimed she owned the entire property and that the quitclaim deed was invalid. The siblings responded with a cross-claim to partition the property by sale. The estate administrator was never included as a party to the civil action. The court entered an interlocutory judgment for partition by sale and determined that the owners of the property were Catello and Decedent, and the siblings were identified as the estate successors in interest/beneficiaries. Catello appealed claiming the siblings lacked standing because their entitlement to the Decedent’s estate had not yet been established.
The appellate court reversed. A partition action can be brought by current owners of a property. The appellate court held that the siblings, while intestate heirs, were not deemed owners of the property until a final order of distribution confirmed title to them, assuming the property was not sold or otherwise disposed of during the period of estate administration.