Jensen v. Jensen

Filed 1/24/19 CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION SIX

KARI JENSEN, 2d Civil No. B289611 (Super. Ct. No. 56-2017- Cross-complainant and 00495927-CU-OR-VTA) Appellant, (Ventura County)

v.

TRINE JENSEN,

Cross-defendant and Respondent.

Kari Jensen appeals the trial court’s order quashing service of a summons and cross-complaint on her sister, Trine Jensen. Trine, a resident of Utah, is the guardian ad litem for their elderly mother, Grethe Jensen. Kari’s cross-complaint attempted to allege a claim against Trine in her individual capacity and not in her capacity as Grethe’s guardian ad litem. In late 2016, when Grethe was 89 years old, she sold a house she owned in a Ventura retirement community and bought another house with Kari as joint tenants. Trine traveled to California and moved Grethe to Utah, where she now lives in a “memory care” facility. After the move to Utah, Grethe filed a lawsuit in Ventura against Kari, for the partition by sale of the real property they own as joint

tenants and for damages on tort theories including financial elder abuse. The Ventura County Superior Court granted Trine’s application to be appointed guardian ad litem for Grethe. Kari filed a cross-complaint against Trine for intentional interference with prospective economic advantage. Trine moved to quash service of the summons on the ground that California lacks personal jurisdiction over her. The trial court granted that motion. Kari appeals. We affirm. Facts and Procedural History Grethe’s complaint alleges that Kari used undue influence to convince Grethe to sell her home in a gated retirement community and buy a different house in Ventura as a joint tenant with Kari. Kari told Grethe she would become homeless without Grethe’s financial assistance and that she would take care of Grethe. Grethe sold her house and the two used the sales proceeds to purchase a new house. They financed a portion of the purchase price with a secured, thirty-year note which Grethe co- signed. Grethe lived in the new house while it was being renovated. Her complaint alleges that she “was confined to a few rooms all day. Her life’s possessions were shoved into the garage, and she lived in a construction zone inundated with noise and dust all day. Because the kitchen was torn up, [Grethe’s] ‘kitchen’ consisted of a coffee maker on an end table outside her bedroom door.” Of course, the new living arrangement was not successful. In January 2017, Grethe walked away from the house and was found “wandering aimlessly down the street in her old . . . neighborhood in a rainstorm, holding a sack of clothing under one arm, and her dog under her other arm.” Trine traveled to