Dacey v. Taraday

Summary

**Key Legal Topics:** Partnership dissolution; assignment of contingent fee cases; breach of contract; statute of limitations under Code of Civil Procedure § 366.2 (claims against decedent); creditor's claim requirements in probate; waiver; prejudgment interest. **Holdings:** The dissolution agreement unambiguously assigned the flood cases to Goldstein, giving the estate authority to renegotiate fee agreements. Dacey's breach of contract claim was not barred by CCP § 366.2 because the decedent did not breach before death—the administrator's post-death breach triggered the claim, and the statute applies only when the decedent committed the wrongful act or owed an enforceable debt at death. The estate waived the creditor's claim defense by failing to raise it independently in the trial court. Prejudgment interest on a written contract accrues from the date of breach under Probate Code § 11423(b) and Civil Code § 3289(b), not from the probate court's order.

Holdings

1. The dissolution agreement clearly and unambiguously assigned the flood cases to Goldstein, with Dacey and Baruh retaining only a contractual right to a percentage of the fee recovery.
2. The estate waived this issue on appeal because it was not presented as an independent defense in the trial court.
3. Section 366.2 does not apply because the debt was not enforceable against Goldstein while he was alive and the breach occurred after his death.
4. Under Probate Code section 11423, subdivision (b), interest accrues from the date of breach because the debt is based on a written contract, and Civil Code section 3289(b) provides a 10% rate from breach.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the dissolution agreement assigned the flood cases to Goldstein or kept them as partnership assets.
2. Whether Dacey's failure to file a creditor's claim in probate bars his breach of contract claim.
3. Whether Code of Civil Procedure section 366.2 bars Dacey's breach of contract claim as untimely.
4. Whether prejudgment interest accrues from the date of breach or from the probate court's order.

Disposition

affirmed