Estate of Joan Marie Soto

Case Number

24PR00238

Case Type

Hearing Date / Time

Tue, 06/24/2025 - 09:00

Nature of Proceedings

Final Distribution

Tentative Ruling

Probate Notes:

Appearances required.

The following errors require continuance and correction as specified:

Insufficient Notice.  Notice must be given 15 days prior to hearing, served on all known heirs and devisees, as well as on the Personal Representative (if not the petitioner) and special notice requestors.  (Prob. Code, §§ 11601 & 1220.) Notice must be sent to the person, not the person’s representative. (§1220.) 

In this case, Proof of Service of Amended Petition shows notice was served on June 10, 2025, which is only 14 days before the hearing.  This violates Due Process and requires continuance to cure the defect.

Final Inventory and Appraisal – There were three total Inventory and Appraisals filed in this case, and all three documents have errors or should not have been filed for the following reasons:

Decedent, Joan Marie Soto/Reyes, died in 1995.  Pursuant to Probate Code section 8802, the value of the Decedent’s property shall be the “fair market value of the item at the time of the decedent’s death” in 1995.

The first and second Inventory and Appraisals were marked final, without the second being marked in any way to identify it as a subsequently filed document (i.e. amended, corrected, etc.).  This not only creates confusion, but the estate was further confused by the fact that the first two Inventory and Appraisals do not differ in any perceptible way, other than their filing dates.  Contained in both documents is also a procedural defect in the Declaration within the appraisal that the requirements of Revenue and Taxation Code section 480 are not applicable (¶5a), instead of the requirements having been satisfied because Decedent owned real property (¶5b). It is clear Decedent owned real property at the time of her death, because the only inventoried and appraised item on any of the three documents is a parcel of real property.

The third-in-time Inventory and Appraisal is most problematic.  The third I & A is marked as a “Reappraisal for Sale,” but no Court confirmation of the sale was sought by the Personal Representative pursuant to Probate Code section 10308.  As a result of that fact, and the fact that the filing of the third Inventory and Appraisal was accompanied by the filing of two documents that are not appropriate or required in Decedent’s Estate cases (i.e. “Notices of Filing Inventory and Appraisal and How to Object to the Inventory or the Appraised Value of Property” [form GC-042]), it appears third Inventory and Appraisal was erroneously filed, and that erroneously filed document is creating confusion and miscalculation in the final distribution.

Therefore, it is recommended the Court strike the Inventory and Appraisal filed on November 27, 2024 and marked Reappraisal for Sale, and strike the two Notices of Filling Inventory and Appraisal filed on March 14, 2025.  It is also recommended the Court order the Petitioner to amend the Inventory and Appraisal to indicate that Revenue and Taxation Code section 480 has been complied with, or submit supplement showing compliance with Revenue and Taxation Code section 480.

It is recommended that the matter be continued to a date to be set by the Court at the hearing, unless the party appears and requests a different date, or submits a request for a different continuance date prior to the hearing. (Local Rule 1721(c)(2)(A-B).)  If the matter is continued, documents must be submitted at least 10 days prior to the new hearing date to be considered.

 

Due to staffing limitations, processing times may be delayed. To assist in processing, attorneys and parties should include the next court date in the “Filing Description” field provided by the electronic service provider. That field is also used for further descriptions of the document being e-filed, so be sure to put the calendar date FIRST in the field – BEFORE any further description of the document being e-filed (e.g.: 06/28/16 For XYZ).

Appearances:

The court is open to the public for court business. The court is also conducting hearings via Zoom videoconference.

Meeting ID: 160 543 3416

Passcode: 5053334