Busch v. Morgan CA1/3

── Busch v. Morgan CA1/3 ── Court: California Court of Appeal Date: May 28, 2026 Category: General Filed 5/28/26 Busch v. Morgan CA1/3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115. IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT DIVISION THREE TIMOTHY R. BUSCH, as Trustee, etc., Plaintiff and Respondent, A171532 v. (Alameda County GLORIA MORGAN, Super. Ct. No. 22CV009328) Defendant and Appellant. Defendant Gloria Morgan (Gloria1) appeals from an interlocutory judgment entered after bench trial ordering the partition by sale of property co-owned by Gloria and the Theresa Morgan 2022 Irrevocable Trust Dated February 23, 2022 (Theresa Decanted Trust), of which plaintiff Timothy R. Busch is the trustee. Gloria avers Busch lacked authority to litigate the partition, the judgment is void for failure to join indispensable parties, and the trial court erred by refusing to apply the Partition of Real Property Act (Code Civ. Proc., § 874.311 et seq.; PRPA; further undesignated statutory references are to this code) or the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act (former § 874.311 et seq.; UPHPA). We affirm. 1 For ease of comprehension and meaning no disrespect, we refer to Gloria Morgan, Theresa Morgan, Joe Morgan, Angela Morgan, and Lisa Morgan by their first names throughout this opinion. 1  FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND The property at issue in the partition action is a single-family residence in Alameda County (the residence), which was Gloria’s family residence while she was married to her then-husband, Joe Morgan (Joe). Gloria and Joe divorced in 1989, and Joe subsequently married his second wife, Theresa Morgan (Theresa). Joe died in 2020. To assist in understanding the issues on appeal, we explain how the ownership interests in the residence passed over time as well as the numerous trusts involved in the case. Gloria and Joe entered into a marital settlement agreement, which contained a “Further Judgment on Reserved Issues” governing the distribution of property (property settlement agreement), including the residence. Under the property settlement agreement, Gloria was entitled to exclusive use and occupancy of the residence until it was sold. Further, until July 1, 1993, Gloria had the sole and exclusive right to determine whether to sell the residence; after that date, Joe retained that right, provided he gave Gloria 60 days’ notice. Gloria and Joe remained co-owners of the residence, each with an undivided one-half interest in the residence, and were each entitled to one-half of the proceeds from the sale of the residence. The agreement also set forth various terms governing any sale. Gloria currently lives at the residence. In 2012, Joe conveyed his undivided one-half interest in the residence to the Joe L. Morgan Irrevocable Trust II (Joe Trust). This resulted in the residence being equally co-owned by the Joe Trust and Gloria. Joe Trust The Joe Trust was established in 1991 and contained the following relevant provisions. 2  The beneficiaries were Theresa, Gloria, and Joe’s children. This included Joe’s two adult children with Gloria, Angela Morgan (Angela) and Lisa Morgan (Lisa), who were listed as “Special Beneficiaries.” Upon Joe’s death, the remaining trust estate was to be distributed as follows. The trustee was “ins