Bonta v. Baker

95 Cal.Rptr.2d 172 (2000) 80 Cal.App.4th 302 Diana BONTÁ, as Director, etc., Plaintiff and Appellant,

v.

Susan Lynn BAKER, as Trustee, etc., et al., Defendants and Respondents.

No. D033234. Court of Appeal, Fourth District, Division One.

April 27, 2000. As Modified May 18, 2000. Ordered Not Officially Published November 1, 2000.[*] [173] Bill Lockyer, Attorney General, Charlton G. Holland III, Assistant Attorney General, John H. Sanders and Susan A. Nelson, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Appellant.

William L. Conti, Oceanside, for Defendants and Respondents.

WORK, Acting P.J.

Diana Bontá as Director of the California Department of Health Services (Department), appeals a judgment denying Department's action to recover $46,304.67 in Medi-Cal moneys (Prob.Code,[1] § 19255, subd. (a)(1)) from a decedent's trust estate and from its individual distributees.

Department contends the court erred in concluding that service of the trustee's notice of rejection alone triggered the 90-day period within which Department was required to file suit in light of section 19251, subdivision (a)'s provision that a trustee is to file any notice of allowance or rejection with the court clerk. We conclude the service of a notice of rejection in proper form commences the 90-day statute of limitations even though the filing of the rejection with the county clerk occurs later, so the court correctly concluded Department's action against the trust was not timely filed. We also conclude Department's action against the estate's distributees became barred when its action against the estate was denied. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Between January 5 and July 2, 1996, the Medi-Cal program paid a total of $46,304.67 in health care services for decedent, Erma M. Peters. At her death, Peters's trust included real property valued at approximately $47,806, and cash in one or more accounts. Her daughter Susan Lynn Baker was the trustee. On October 3, the trustee's attorney mailed notice of death to the Director of the State Department of Health Services who received it on or about October 9. On January 15, 1997, the Director served a preferred creditor's claim on trustee's attorney. On August 22, trustee's attorney served an unfiled copy of a written rejection of the creditor's claim on the Director by first class mail. On August 25, the superior court clerk stamped the written rejection "Filed." Thereafter, the clerk stamped "File Stamp Cancelled" over the "Filed" stamp for failure to pay the required filing fee. On October 21, in response to a search request by the Attorney General's Sacramento office, the clerk attested no probate filing was found for decedent from January 1, 1974, to October 21, 1997. On November 21, the written rejection was stamped "Filed" by the clerk. On December 2, trustee's attorney transmitted a copy of the written rejection file stamped