Beckwith v. Dahl

141 Cal.Rptr. 3d 142 (2012)

Purchase the Printed Copy at bsmsphd.com

Nature of the Case

To access this section all you need to do is click here and register.

Facts

P and his partner, Marc Christian MacGinnis (MacGinnis), were in a long-term, committed relationship for almost 10 years. They leased an apartment together and were occasional business partners. MacGinnis had no children, and his parents were deceased. His sister, D, with whom he had an estranged relationship, was his only other living family. At some point during their relationship, MacGinnis showed P a will he had saved on his computer. The will stated that upon MacGinnis's death, his estate was to be divided equally between P and D. MacGinnis never printed or signed the will. MacGinnis was in the hospital awaiting surgery to repair holes in his lungs. He asked P to locate and print the will so he could sign it. P could not find it. MacGinnis asked P to create a new will so he could sign it the next day. That night, Beckwith created a new will for MacGinnis using forms downloaded from the Internet. Before P presented the will to MacGinnis, he called D to tell her about the will and e-mailed her a copy. D responded by stating a trust would be better. D then stated she had [two] very good friends [who] are attorneys, and I will call them tonight.’ D told P not to present the will to MacGinnis for signature because one of her friends would prepare the trust documents for MacGinnis to sign “in the next couple [of] days.” P did not present the will to MacGinnis. D did not inform P of the risks of the surgery. D never gave MacGinnis any trust documents to sign (as they were never created). After the surgery, MacGinnis was placed on a ventilator, and his prognosis worsened. Six days later, D, following the doctors' recommendations, removed MacGinnis from the ventilator. On June 2, 2009, MacGinnis died intestate. He left an estate worth over $1 million. P and D met to discuss the disposition of MacGinnis's personal property. After P suggested they find the will that MacGinnis had prepared, D told P “we don't need a will.” Two weeks after MacGinnis’s death, on June 17, 2009, D opened probate in Los Angeles Superior Court. D verbally informed P that she had opened probate, but she did not send him any copies of the probate filings. In the filing, she did not identify P as an interested party. D also applied to become the administrator of the estate. P began to ask D for details of the probate case. D informed P that she had not had any contact with the probate attorney, so she did not know anything. P looked up the probate case online. P sent D numerous emails and D did not respond. D eventually responded by e-mail, stating: “‘Because [MacGinnis] died without a will, and the estate went into probate, I was made executor of his estate. The court then declared that his assets would go to his only surviving family member which is me.’” A few weeks later, in D filed a petition with the probate court for final distribution of the estate. P filed an opposition. The judge found that P had no standing because he was “not a creditor of the estate” and he had “no intestate rights” with regard to MacGinnis's estate. P sued D alleging IIEI, deceit by false promise, and negligence. D demurred to all three causes of action. The trial court stated, it was not “in a position to recognize” a new tort for IIEI because “that really is an appellate decision.” The trial court sustained the demurrer without leave to amend as to all three causes of action and dismissed the complaint. P appealed.