Roberts v. Curtis CA4/1

Filed 2/24/25 Roberts v. Curtis CA4/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

DELORES ROBERTS, D082893

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v. (Super. Ct. No. 37-2020- 00019064-PR-GE-CTL) WILLIAM CURTIS,

Objector and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of San Diego County, Olga Alvarez, Judge. Affirmed. William Curtis, in pro. per, for Objector and Appellant. Higgs Fletcher & Mack, Steven M. Brunolli and John Morris for Plaintiff and Respondent. William Curtis appeals from a judgment granting Delores Roberts’s petition for the return of property to the estate of Curtis’s minor children under Probate Code section 850. Curtis contends that the trial court abused its discretion when it denied his request for a continuance to obtain counsel and excluded certain exhibits from evidence. We conclude that the trial court’s denial of the request for a continuance was not erroneous, and that

Curtis’s claim of evidentiary error is forfeited. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND1 William Curtis is the father of two daughters, who are both minors (the children). Curtis was married to the children’s mother, Claudette Curtis, until their divorce was finalized in April 2019. In November 2019, Claudette died intestate and left a bank account with a balance of $99,053.03. Despite being divorced, Curtis identified himself as Claudette’s successor in interest and initiated the transfer of the funds to his Navy Federal Credit Union bank account in January 2020. Delores Roberts is Claudette’s mother. In June 2020, Roberts filed a petition to be appointed as guardian of the children’s estate. In the course of the trial court’s customary investigation of Roberts’s petition, it appointed Curtis as temporary guardian “for the sole purpose” of transferring the $84,459.22 that remained in the estate out of Curtis’s personal account and into a blocked account. When Curtis did not transfer the funds, the court suspended Curtis as temporary guardian and appointed Roberts. The court ultimately granted Roberts’s petition and appointed her as the guardian of the children’s estate in February 2023. In July 2021, Roberts petitioned the court to order the return of what remained of the funds to the children’s estate. An unreported trial on that petition commenced in October 2023. On the first morning of trial, Curtis