Civil Procedure
Interrogatory responses that indicated the answers could be found in certain identified documents may have been improper and warranted a motion to compel further responses, but they were not the equivalent of factually devoid discovery responses.
Bayramoglu v. Nationstar Mortgage LLC - filed July 1, 2020, Third District
Cite as 2020 S.O.S. 3343
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An expert declaration that a physician’s treatment was within the standard of care, but fails to elaborate upon or explain the basis for this conclusion, will not be sufficient to establish the nonexistence of a triable issue of material fact.
McAlpine v. Norman - filed July 8, 2020, Third District
Cite as 2020 S.O.S.3374
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Appellate review of the sufficiency of the evidence in support of a finding requiring clear and convincing proof must account for the level of confidence this standard demands; when reviewing a finding that a fact has been proved by clear and convincing evidence, the question before the appellate court is whether the record as a whole contains substantial evidence from which a reasonable factfinder could have found it highly probable that the fact was true; in making this assessment the appellate court must view the record in the light most favorable to the prevailing party below and give due deference to how the trier of fact may have evaluated the credibility of witnesses, resolved conflicts in the evidence, and drawn reasonable inferences from the evidence.
Conservatorship of O.B.-SC - filed July 27, 2020
Cite as 2020 S.O.S. 3754
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Family Law
Evidence Code §662 does not apply when it conflicts with the Family Code §760 community property presumption. When a married couple uses community funds to acquire property with joint tenancy title on or after Jan. 1, 1975, the property is presumptively community property under §760 in a dispute between the couple and a bankruptcy trustee; for property purchased before Jan. 1, 1975, the Legislature left intact a presumption that separate property interests arise from joint tenancy title. Joint tenancy titling of property acquired by spouses using community funds on or after Jan. 1, 1985 is not sufficient by itself to transmute community property into separate property; for joint tenancy property acquired between Jan. 1, 1975 and Dec. 31, 1984, the act of taking title as joint tenants is, in itself, insufficient to prove a transmutation but a court may consider the manner of taking title in determining whether the spouses had an oral agreement or common understanding. Joint tenancy property acquired with community funds before Jan. 1, 1975 is presumptively separate property.
In re Brace - filed July 23, 2020
Cite as 2020 S.O.S. 3706
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Real Property
The beneficiary of an indisputably valid deed of trust on a property had no legal obligation to monitor the status of its title or to take affirmative steps to rid public records of improperly recorded documents relating to the property.
WFG National Title Insurance v. Wells Fargo Bank - filed June 12, 2020, publication ordered July 7, 2020, Second District, Div. Three
Cite as 2020 S.O.S.3392
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Although a purchaser may rely on the recorded chain of title, the purchaser may not ignore information that comes to him from outside the recorded chain of title, to the extent such information puts him on notice of information that reasonably brings into question the state of title reflected in the recorded chain of title; there is no authority requiring that an index search need be performed using a middle name as a first name.
Vasquez v. LBS Financial Credit Union - filed June 17, 2020, publication ordered July 14, 2020, Second District, Div. Seven
Cite as 2020 S.O.S. 3552
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