Tentative Ruling: Estate of Carolyn Lorraine Cain

Case Number

26PR00020

Case Type

Hearing Date / Time

Mon, 03/02/2026 - 08:30

Nature of Proceedings

Petition for Probate and Letters Testamentary

Tentative Ruling

Probate Notes:

Appearances required.

The following is noted for the Court at the hearing:

Defective Proof of Publication.  The Proof of Publication shows publication occurred in the Santa Maria Times.  A declaration of substantial compliance is not going to solve this problem (Prob. Code, § 8122), because publication in the wrong periodical by a local attorney who regularly practices probate law and had access to the list of court adjudicated publications is not a “good faith attempt to comply with Section 8121,” thus not one of the “unusual cases due to confusion over jurisdictional boundaries or oversight” contemplated by Probate Code section 8122. 

Further, the Court must “expressly find[] that the notice was published in a newspaper of general circulation published within the county and widely circulated within a true cross-section of the area of the county in which the decedent resided or the property was located.” (Prob. Code, §8122.)  Thus, Petitioner’s failure to submit any evidence that the Santa Maria Times is “widely circulated” within a true cross-section” of Lompoc is also fatal to notice.   There is no evidence submitted that shows the court that the Santa Maria Times is “widely circulated within a true cross-section of the area of the county.” (Ibid.)  Any finding of substantial compliance must be made on evidence required by the Probate Code, not conjecture.  Thus, re-publication should be required.