Parker

In this case, we hold that a petition in probate, filed pursuant to Probate Code section 9860 (further statutory references are to the Probate Code unless otherwise indicated), initiates an “action” subject to the bar of the two-year statute of limitations for oral agreements set out in Code of Civil Procedure section 339, subdivision 1 (hereafter Code Civ. Proc., § 339(1)).

Factual and Procedural Background

In 1963, Fred Walker and Glen Crosley as coplaintiffs sued Robert and Berniece Prupas (Prupas) for breach of contract arising out of plaintiffs’ sale of a dry cleaning business in the Lake Tahoe area to defendants. The complaint alleged that plaintiffs and defendants entered into an agreement for the sale of the business under which plaintiffs agreed to assign to defendants their leasehold interest in the premises and the parties executed conditional sales contracts for the supply and installation of equipment, and that defendants thereafter failed to pay the amounts due under the agreement.

Following trial, Walker and Crosley won a joint judgment for $61,454.41 against Prupas. The trial court’s award did not allocate the proceeds of the judgment as between Walker…