The trial court concluded the trust was not a separate legal entity, and that Dr. Hallberg was a partner at the time of his death. The court stated it was required to follow Presta v. Tepper (2009) 179 Cal.App.4th 909, 918, 102 Cal.Rptr.3d 12 ( Presta ) ("when a trustee of an ordinary express trust enters into a partnership relationship in his capacity as trustee, it is he, and not ‘the trust’ which is the party to that agreement"). We conclude Dr. Hallberg was not a partner when he died.

It appears from the record that at one point Etienne, the new trustee, intervened in the action, over Chodos’s objection, and ultimately Etienne voluntarily dismissed his First Amended Complaint in Intervention. Chodos in claiming against Spector personally, relies on Presta v. Tepper (2009) 179 Cal.App.4th 909 (Presta), for the proposition that the trustee of a trust, rather than the trust, is always the real party in interest in litigation involving trust. Chodos argues that because Spector, named as a trustee, is the real party in interest in the RICO action, “it was Spector, not the trusts, whom Chodos agreed to represent; and it was Spector, not the trusts, who contracted with Chodos to provide that representation.”

A trust lacks capacity to sue because it has no independent legal existence. As a Fourth District, Division Three panel explained in Presta v. Tepper (2009) 179 Cal.App.4th 909, 913–914, 102 Cal.Rptr.3d 12, while a corporation is considered a jural person ( Code Civ. Proc., § 17, subd. (6) ), a trust is not. A trust is merely " ‘ " ‘a fiduciary relationship with respect to property .’ " ’ " ( Presta, at p. 914, 102 Cal.Rptr.3d 12 ; accord, Moeller v. Superior Court (1997) 16 Cal.4th 1124, 1132, fn. 3, 69 Cal.Rptr.2d 317, 947 P.2d 279.)

Instead, they were owned by a corporation, which exists as a legal entity separate and apart from its shareholders. (See Grosset v. Wenaas (2008) 42 Cal.4th 1100, 1108 ["[i]t is fundamental that a corporation is a legal entity that is distinct from its shareholders"]; Presta v. Tepper (2009) 179 Cal.App.4th 909, 910 [a corporation "is a distinct legal entity separate from its stockholder and from its officers . . . and deemed a person within many legal constructs"; internal quotation marks omitted]; see also § 17, subd. (b)(6) ["'[p]erson' includes a corporation as well as a natural person"].

However, a trust is not an independent legal entity which is separate and distinct from its trustees. Presta v. Tepper, 102 Cal. Rptr. 3d 12, 16 (Ct. App. 2009). In contrast to a corporation, which is a distinct legal entity, see, e.g., Canarelli v. Eighth Judicial Dist. Court, 127 Nev. 808, 814, 265 P.3d 673, 677 (2011), a "trust is not a person but rather a fiduciary relationship with respect to property.

Moreover, the Wong Family Trust could not become a partner because it is not "an entity capable of being a general partner under the ULPA and prevailing case authority." (Citing Presta v. Tepper (2009) 179 Cal.App.4th 909, 914.) A transferee qualifies as an "Affiliate" as defined in section 1.8(c) of the Partnership Agreement if the transferee is a "person or entity which, directly or indirectly, through one or more intermediaries, controls or is controlled by or is under common control with another person or entity.

Probate Code section 15200 sets forth several methods for creating a trust, including "[a] transfer of property by the owner during the owner's lifetime to another person as trustee." (Prob. Code, § 15200, subd. (b) ; Presta v. Tepper (2009) 179 Cal.App.4th 909, 914, 102 Cal.Rptr.3d 12 (Presta ).) " ‘A trust is any arrangement which exists whereby property is transferred with an intention that it be held and administered by the transferee (trustee) for the benefit of another....’ [Citations.]" (Presta , supra , at p. 913, 102 Cal.Rptr.3d 12.)

' " (Ziegler v. Nickel (1998) 64 Cal.App.4th 545, 548.) Because a trust cannot sue or be sued (Presta v. Tepper (2009) 179 Cal.App.4th 909, 914), "[a]s a general rule, the trustee is the real party in interest with standing to sue and defend on the trust's behalf. [Citations.]" (Estate ofBowles (2008) 169 Cal.App.4th 684, 691.)

Relying on a recent Court of Appeal decision, Stephen contends that a trust can never be a "member" of a limited liability company, and instead the trustee of the trust is the true owner of the membership interests. (Presta v. Tepper (2009) 179 Cal.App.4th 909 (Presta).) In Presta, two men entered into partnerships, each acting in his capacity as the trustee of his family trust.

To the extent the allegations of the third amended complaint suggest that defendant Michael's conduct will result in disproportionate distribution of the trusts' interest, plaintiff pleads only a prospective injury. See Izenberg, 589 F. Supp. 2d at 1204-05 (holding plaintiff could not rely on prospective injuries to establish RICO standing). Generally speaking, a trust "is merely a relationship by which one person or entity holds property for the benefit of some other person or entity: 'A trust is any arrangement which exists whereby property is transferred with an intention that it be held and administered by the transferee (trustee) for the benefit of another. . . .'" Presta v. Tepper, 179 Cal. App. 4th 909, 913-14 (2009) (citations omitted). A trust is unlike a corporation, which is capable of entering into a business relationship with another party.