Montenegro

INTRODUCTION

Appellant Ruth Montenegro (Montenegro) claims ownership of the home where respondent Oscar M. Bernal (Oscar)1 lives. In 2022, Oscar recorded a nine-year-old quitclaim deed which granted Montenegro’s share of the property to Oscar’s mother. In response, Montenegro sued, alleging the deed was a forgery and seeking to cancel it. After a one-day bench trial, the court found the deed legitimate and entered judgment in favor of Oscar. Montenegro now appeals the judgment. We affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Montenegro and Oscar were romantic partners who lived together at various times beginning in 2005; they had two children, got married in 2016, and were ultimately divorced in 2022. When the parties lived together, they lived at a house in Long Beach owned by Oscar’s mother, Aurelia Bernal (Aurelia). There is no dispute that, on February 26, 2013, Aurelia conveyed the property to herself and Montenegro as joint tenants. The grant deed was recorded two days later. Aurelia died in January 2020. Montenegro filed for divorce from Oscar that same year. In May 2022, before the divorce was finalized, Oscar recorded the quitclaim deed which is the subject of this action.…