Pynoos

FACTS

Morris Pynoos (Morris)1 and Stephen Massman (Massman) formed the Kingswood Village-Marina Partnership (Partnership) in 1974 to build and manage a luxury high-rise in Marina Del Rey. Morris and Massman served as general partners, and the Partnership added 30 or so limited partners as capital investors. A few years in, Massman and Morris also became limited partners when they invested additional capital. By 2002, Morris no longer held any of his interest in the Partnership in his own name. He gave away 3.6 percent of his limited partnership interest, 1.8 percent to each of his sons, plaintiffs Jonathon Pynoos (Jonathon) and Robert Pynoos (Robert). He transferred the remainder—his 10 percent general partnership interest and a 4.4 percent limited partnership interest—into a living trust. When Morris died in 2002, his 10 percent general partnership interest converted to a limited partnership interest. The resulting 14.4 percent limited partnership interest was held in the trust’s name. Morris’s elderly widow, plaintiff Rita Pynoos (Rita), became the sole trustee and primary beneficiary of the trust. In 2004, the Partnership sold the high-rise, its sole asset, for a nearly $60…