A bitter family dispute over trust assets has culminated in a court ruling against the plaintiff, who alleged fraud and emotional distress. Lisa A. Vaughn filed the complaint on July 13, 2022, in the Superior Court of Los Angeles County against Patricia V. Lewis and others.
The case centers around the Dorothy M. Vaughn Revocable Trust, established by Lisa's mother, Dorothy M. Vaughn, who conveyed real property located at 8806 John Avenue to the Trust on October 10, 2000. The Trust named Wayne Vaughn and Patricia V. Lewis as successor trustees. According to the Trust agreement, upon Dorothy's death, the Trust was to terminate and distribute its assets to identified beneficiaries, including a 15 percent interest for Lisa Vaughn.
However, things took a turn when Lewis assumed her duties as co-trustee on October 28, 2008. She transferred the property to herself and encumbered it with a mortgage without providing annual accountings required under the Trust. In 2012, Lewis conveyed the property to Almita Delone and Amos Delone (the Delone Defendants) to prevent foreclosure but did not inform Lisa about these transactions.
Lisa discovered these facts only after receiving a letter from Lewis dated September 26, 2020. By then, she felt defrauded of her rights to the title and benefits of the property due to multiple conveyances orchestrated by Lewis.
In response to Lisa's third amended complaint (TAC), which included allegations of fraud and emotional distress, defendants demurred successfully. The trial court sustained their demurrer without leave to amend on grounds that Lisa’s fraud claim was time-barred by a three-year statute of limitations. The court noted that despite knowing about issues with distributions in 2012, Lisa did not file her lawsuit until ten years later in 2022.
Judge Holly J. Fujie ruled that Lisa had not exercised reasonable diligence necessary for invoking the delayed discovery rule which could have extended the statute of limitations period for her fraud claims. Consequently, her allegations were deemed insufficient for overcoming this statutory barrier.
Lisa sought judicial relief for what she perceived as fraudulent actions that deprived her of rightful trust benefits and caused emotional distress. However, given that she failed to present adequate arguments or facts justifying an extension of time limits under applicable laws, her appeal was dismissed.
The judgment was affirmed by Acting Presiding Justice Ashmann-Gerst with Justices Chavez and Hoffstadt concurring.