LISA ARNOLD VS. CLARA ANI BISHOP ET AL

SF Superior Court - Law & Motion / Discovery Dept 301 - CGC22601123 - June 22, 2026 Hearing date: June 22, 2026 Case number: CGC22601123 Case title: LISA ARNOLD VS. CLARA ANI BISHOP ET AL Case Number: | | CGC22601123 | Case Title: | | LISA ARNOLD VS. CLARA ANI BISHOP ET AL | Court Date: | | 2026-06-22 09:00 AM | Calendar Matter: | | MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT Or, In The Alternative, Summary Adjudication | Rulings: | | On the Law & Motion/Discovery calendar for Monday, June 22, 2026, Line 3, 2. DEFENDANT CLARA ANI BISHOP'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT Or, In The Alternative, Summary Adjudication.

Defendant Clara Ani Bishop's unopposed motion for summary judgment is granted based on statutory standing. A wrongful death action may be brought only by the persons identified in Code of Civil Procedure, Section 377.60. The statute authorizes suit by the decedent's surviving spouse, domestic partner, children, and issue of deceased children. If there is no surviving issue, the action may be brought by those persons who would be entitled to the decedent's property by intestate succession. (Id., Section 377.60, subd. (a).) Because the cause of action is purely statutory, only those persons within the statutory class have standing to maintain the claim.

Defendant presents evidence that the decedent, a minor child, died without a spouse, domestic partner, children, or other issue. Defendant further presents evidence that the decedent's biological parents are alive, and their parental rights were never legally terminated. Plaintiff is the grandparent and legal guardian of the decedent. "Wrongful death actions are creatures of statute and the right to maintain such an action is afforded only by the Legislature. Accordingly, the use of the word 'heirs' in the wrongful death statute is to be strictly construed." (Lewis v.

Regional Center of the East Bay (1985) 174 Cal.App.3d 350, 355 [citation simplified].) A grandparent is not an heir where a parent is alive. (Id., at p. 352 [grandparents were not heirs notwithstanding that living parents and half-brother disclaimed interest in decedent's estate].) That result changes where the parents' parental rights have been terminated. (Fraizer v. Velkura (2001) 91 Cal.App.4th 942, 946.) Here, the decedents' parents' rights were not terminated.

Because plaintiff lacks statutory standing to bring this wrongful death cause of action, the court grants summary judgment to Bishop. Bishop shall prepare a proposed judgment.

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