Corrie

Appellant Sidney J. Corrie, Jr., petitioned the

probate court to enforce an option he held to purchase a portion of a property owned by the Armand Borel Trust dated June 20, 1994, as amended and restated in 2008 (Borel Trust or the trust). Respondents successor trustee, Elizabeth Soloway, and trust beneficiary, the East Bay Regional Park District (the District), objected to the petition on the grounds that Come’s option agreement with the trust was void and unenforceable for illegality in that it failed to comply with the Subdivision Map Act (SMA), Government Code section 66410 et seq. Following a separate trial on the issue, the trial court ruled in favor of respondents, finding that amendments to the option agreement executed by Corrie and a previous trustee to cure the illegality were ineffectual.

Come contends the trial court erred as a matter of law in holding that no subsequent acts by the parties could revive the option agreement. We agree, and will reverse the trial court’s orders on this issue.

I. BACKGROUND

Armand Borel was the settler and trustee of the Armand Borel Trust dated June 20, 1994, a revocable trust. On June 14, 2004, Borel and Corrie entered…