Estate of Alva CA2/6

Filed 12/2/13 Estate of Alva CA2/6 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION SIX

Estate of ANICETO REYES ALVA, 2d Civil No. B243370 Deceased. (Super. Ct. No. 56-2010-00367595- PR-LA-OX) (Ventura County)

CRISTINA ALVA, as Administrator, etc.,

Petitioner and Appellant,

v.

ROGELIO ALVA et al.,

Objectors and Respondents.

The decedent's second wife, Cristina Alva, appeals from the order on a probate petition directing her, as the administrator of his estate, to transfer certain real property to the decedent's son, Rogelio Alva, and daughter-in-law, Judy Alva. Unbeknownst to Cristina, the decedent partly sold and partly gifted the property to Rogelio and Judy years before his death.1 Substantial evidence supports the probate court's finding that this agreement was enforceable, and that a resulting trust arose when Cristina acquired title to the property. As the resulting trustee, Cristina had a

1 Because all of the parties share the same last name, we refer to them by their first names to avoid confusion.

duty to transfer the property to Rogelio and Judy as the beneficiaries. The court also correctly found that Rogelio and Judy's claim was timely. (Code Civ. Proc., § 343.)2 We affirm. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND In 1967, the decedent, Aniceto Alva, and his first wife, Maria Alva, purchased a family residence located at 1312 West Juniper Street, Oxnard, California (Residence), taking title in joint tenancy. The couple had a son, Rogelio, and an adopted son, who died. Rogelio and Judy began living in the Residence when they married in 1982. At that time, the Residence was a single-family dwelling with four bedrooms and two baths. The couple paid no rent or utility expenses. A year later, they moved into an apartment. In 1986, Maria won $50,000 in the lottery. She and Aniceto decided to build a "granny flat" on the Residence by using some of the lottery winnings plus a $21,000 loan from Bank of America (BofA), secured by a deed of trust on the property. The granny flat, which was attached to the back of the Residence, had its own kitchen, bedroom, bathroom and front door. The main part of the Residence could be accessed from a bedroom door. Rogelio and Judy moved into the granny flat in 1987. They made all of the $235.47 monthly payments due on the $21,000 BofA loan. Rogelio claimed his parents said on at least one occasion that if he and Judy made the payments, they would "be entitled to own" the granny flat. The agreement was not memorialized in writing. When the loan was paid off in 2002, Rogelio and Judy believed they owned the granny flat. In 1991, Rogelio and Judy's daughter started a fire in the granny flat that also burned the principal part of the Residence. To rebuild the Residence, including the granny flat, Aniceto and Maria used insurance proceeds plus a $15,000 loan from BofA,