California Court of Appeal

In a claim involving California's antilapse statute, probate court's order construing Probate Code section 21110 to require that each of the surviving adult children of decedent's sisters receive an equal one-seventh of decedent's estate is reversed and remanded where: 1) California-s antilapse statute has consistently provided that when a bequest to a protected transferee would otherwise lapse due to the transferee's death, that bequest passes by right of representation to his or her descendants; 2) the probate court erred in construing sections 21110 and 240 differently; and 3) the order must be modified to provide that decedent's sister's one-half share of decedent's residual estate be divided equally among her four children and that decedent's other sister's one-half share be divided equally among her three children, subject to any disclaimers of benefits that may apply.

Appellate Information

• Decided 12/22/2008
• Published 12/22/2008

Judges

• MARGULIES, J.

Court

• California Court of Appeal

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Evans, Latham & Campisi, James A. Barringer, San Francisco, and Claudia J. Lowder, for Petitioners and Appellants.


• For Appellees:
  
• Thomas Murphy, Nancy Danish, Daniel Murphy, in pro. per., and Edward Murphy, in pro. per., for Claimants and Respondents.