Goebner v. Superior Court

Summary

The California Court of Appeal held that Probate Code section 1043 governs the timing for filing a demurrer to a probate petition. Because the demurrer may be filed at or before the hearing, the trial court erred in applying the 30-day deadline under Code of Civil Procedure section 430.40. The court issued a peremptory writ directing the trial court to vacate its order and consider the demurrer on the merits.

Holdings

1. Writ review was warranted because there was no appellate authority resolving the conflict between Probate Code section 1043 and Code of Civil Procedure section 430.40, and trial courts had adopted inconsistent approaches to the timing of demurrers in probate proceedings.
2. A demurrer to a petition brought under the Probate Code must be filed at or before the initial hearing on the petition under Probate Code section 1043; Code of Civil Procedure section 430.40's 30-day deadline does not govern.
3. Goebner's demurrer, filed two days before the initial hearing, was timely under Probate Code section 1043.
4. The holding concerning section 1043 applies to pleadings such as demurrers and answers, not to summary judgment motions; because the Probate Code provides no summary judgment procedure, the applicable Code of Civil Procedure provisions govern summary judgment proceedings in probate court.

Questions Presented

1. Whether writ review was appropriate to resolve the conflict concerning the deadline for filing a demurrer in a Probate Code proceeding.
2. Whether Probate Code section 1043, permitting an interested person to make a written response or objection at or before the hearing, governs the timing of a demurrer to a Probate Code petition instead of Code of Civil Procedure section 430.40's 30-day deadline.
3. Whether the superior court properly overruled Goebner's demurrer as untimely.

Disposition

writ_granted