California Court of Appeal

In a dispute between an ex-wife and a widow involving the ex-wife's claim that the widow is personally liable for her deceased husband's debts and seeking damages and attorney fees for breach of the terms of a modified marital settlement agreement (MSA) that the ex-wife had with the husband, trial court's judgment in favor of the ex-wife is affirmed as, given the Legislature's clear intent to broadly define the scope of a surviving spouse's personal liability for debts of a deceased spouse, and having examined the evidence presented by the parties at trial, there is no error in the trial court's legal conclusion that the property held in joint tenancy falls within the ambit of section 13551.

Appellate Information

• Decided 11/04/2010
• Published 11/04/2010

Judges

• Jenkins

Court

• California Court of Appeal

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Mattaniah Eytan,, Richard M. Grabstein