Crisostomo v. Crisostomo CA2/7

Filed 6/7/22 Crisostomo v. Crisostomo CA2/7 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 SEVEN

CLAUDE E. CRISOSTOMO B306463 et al., (Los Angeles County Petitioners and Respondents, Super. Ct. No. 18STPB08104)

v.

GERINO CRISOSTOMO,

Objector and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. Michael C. Small, Judge. Affirmed. Gerino Crisostomo, in pro. per., for Objector and Appellant. Wershow & Cole and Jonathan A. Wershow for Petitioners and Respondents.

INTRODUCTION

Gerino Crisostomo, his brother Claude Crisostomo, and their sister Belinda Kai were the beneficiaries of their parents’ trust. After their parents died, Claude, as successor trustee, and Belinda, as a beneficiary, filed a petition in the probate court for orders instructing Claude to market and sell the trust’s only asset, their parents’ former residence. Over Gerino’s objection, the court granted the petition. Gerino, representing himself, appeals from the order granting that petition. We affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In 1989 Clodualdo and Belen Crisostomo executed a revocable living trust providing that, upon the death of the surviving settlor, trust assets would be distributed in equal shares to the couple’s children: Claude, Gerino, and Belinda. Clodualdo and Belen died in 2018, and under the terms of the trust, Claude became the successor trustee. The trust’s sole asset was residential property on Tracy Street where Clodualdo and Belen lived for many years. Claude and Belinda lived there until they finished college; Gerino has lived there his entire life. The property’s appraised value was $1.2 million. In August 2018 Claude and Belinda filed a petition in the probate court seeking, among other things, an order under Probate Code section 17200, subdivision (b)(6),1 instructing Claude, as trustee, to list, market, and sell the Tracy Street property. Gerino objected to the petition. He argued selling the property on the open market was not as beneficial to the trust as