Padlan v. Graves CA1/3

Filed 9/17/21 Padlan v. Graves CA1/3

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT DIVISION THREE

ALEXIS D. PADLAN, Plaintiff, v. ZENAIDA P. GRAVES, A159576 as Trustee, etc. (San Francisco County Defendant and Appellant. Super Ct. No. PTR-16- 299858)

Zenaida P. Graves is the successor trustee of the Blandina D. Padlan Revocable Trust, Dated May 16, 2000 (trust). She appeals in propria persona from a December 20, 2019 probate court order which, as relevant here, approved a final account, ordered payment of attorney fees, and directed distribution of the estate (Prob. Code, § 17200).1 We affirm.

Undesignated statutory references are to the Probate Code. Alexis D. 1

Padlan did not file a respondent’s brief. We have decided the appeal on the record and the opening brief. (Nakamura v. Parker (2007) 156 Cal.App.4th 327, 334.) We have not considered matters arising in the trial court after Graves filed the notice of appeal. We use the decedent’s first name for convenience, intending no disrespect.

1

BACKGROUND We recite only those facts necessary to resolve the issues on appeal, doing so in the light most favorable to the judgment. (Cassim v. Allstate Ins. Co. (2004) 33 Cal.4th 780, 787.) Blandina had six children, including Graves and Padlan. The children are beneficiaries of the trust. After Blandina’s death in 2002, two of her children served as co-trustees. In 2007, Graves became the sole successor trustee. At that point, the sole remaining trust asset was a single-family home located in San Francisco (the property). Graves moved into the property, where she lived rent-free with the consent of the other beneficiaries. A. In 2016, Padlan initiated this litigation by petitioning to, among other things, subject the trust to probate court supervision, authorize the payment of his attorney fees and costs, and compel Graves to provide an accounting. The petition alleged Graves had failed to sell the property and distribute the proceeds to the beneficiaries in dereliction of her duty to administer and distribute the trust. Padlan asked the court to allow his attorney fees and costs as “proper expenses of the administration of the trust” and urged the court to order Graves to provide an accounting. Graves sold the property in January 2017 and placed the proceeds— $648,308.71—in a trust bank account. Later, pursuant to a court order, Graves posted bond of $650,000. Eventually, the funds were placed in a blocked account. B. In August 2017, Graves hired attorney Trisha Friedeberg to represent the trust. Two months later, Graves filed a petition for settlement of first