SECTIONS 13200-13210 - California Statutes

PROBATE CODE

SECTION 13200-13210

13200. (a) No sooner than six months from the death of a decedent,
a person or persons claiming as successor of the decedent to a
particular item of property that is real property may file in the
superior court in the county in which the decedent was domiciled at
the time of death, or if the decedent was not domiciled in this state
at the time of death, then in any county in which real property of
the decedent is located, an affidavit in the form prescribed by the
Judicial Council pursuant to Section 1001 stating all of the
following:
(1) The name of the decedent.
(2) The date and place of the decedent's death.
(3) A legal description of the real property and the interest of
the decedent therein.
(4) The name and address of each person serving as guardian or
conservator of the estate of the decedent at the time of the decedent'
s death, so far as known to the affiant.
(5) "The gross value of all real property in the decedent's estate
located in California, as shown by the inventory and appraisal
attached to this affidavit, excluding the real property described in
Section 13050 of the California Probate Code, does not exceed twenty
thousand dollars ($20,000)."
(6) "At least six months have elapsed since the death of the
decedent as shown in a certified copy of decedent's death certificate
attached to this affidavit."
(7) Either of the following, as appropriate:
(A) "No proceeding is now being or has been conducted in
California for administration of the decedent's estate."
(B) "The decedent's personal representative has consented in
writing to use of the procedure provided by this chapter."
(8) "Funeral expenses, expenses of last illness, and all unsecured
debts of the decedent have been paid."
(9) "The affiant is the successor of the decedent (as defined in
Section 13006 of the Probate Code) and to the decedent's interest in
the described property, and no other person has a superior right to
the interest of the decedent in the described property."
(10) "The affiant declares under penalty of perjury under the law
of the State of California that the foregoing is true and correct."
(b) For each person executing the affidavit, the affidavit shall
contain a notary public's certificate of acknowledgment identifying
the person.
(c) There shall be attached to the affidavit an inventory and
appraisal of the decedent's real property in this state, excluding
the real property described in Section 13050. The inventory and
appraisal of the real property shall be made as provided in Part 3
(commencing with Section 8800) of Division 7. The appraisal shall be
made by a probate referee selected by the affiant from those probate
referees appointed by the Controller under Section 400 to appraise
property in the county where the real property is located.
(d) If the affiant claims under the decedent's will and no estate
proceeding is pending or has been conducted in California, a copy of
the will shall be attached to the affidavit.
(e) A certified copy of the decedent's death certificate shall be
attached to the affidavit. If the decedent's personal representative
has consented to the use of the procedure provided by this chapter, a
copy of the consent and of the personal representative's letters
shall be attached to the affidavit.
(f) The affiant shall mail a copy of the affidavit and attachments
to any person identified in paragraph (4) of subdivision (a).

13201. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the total fee
for the filing of an affidavit under Section 13200 and the issuance
of one certified copy of the affidavit under Section 13202 is as
provided in subdivision (b) of Section 70626 of the Government Code.

13202. Upon receipt of the affidavit and the required fee, the
court clerk, upon determining that the affidavit is complete and has
the required attachments, shall file the affidavit and attachments
and shall issue a certified copy of the affidavit without the
attachments. The certified copy shall be recorded in the office of
the county recorder of the county where the real property is located.
The county recorder shall index the certified copy in the index of
grantors and grantees. The decedent shall be indexed as the grantor
and each person designated as a successor to the property in the
certified copy shall be indexed as a grantee.

13203. (a) A person acting in good faith and for a valuable
consideration with a person designated as a successor of the decedent
to a particular item of property in a certified copy of an affidavit
issued under Section 13202 and recorded in the county in which the
real property is located has the same rights and protections as the
person would have if each person designated as a successor in the
recorded certified copy of the affidavit had been named as a
distributee of the real property in an order for distribution that
had become final.
(b) The issuance and recording of a certified copy of an affidavit
under this chapter does not preclude later proceedings for
administration of the decedent's estate.

13204. Each person who is designated as a successor of the decedent
in a certified copy of an affidavit issued under Section 13202 is
personally liable to the extent provided in Section 13207 for the
unsecured debts of the decedent. Any such debt may be enforced
against the person in the same manner as it could have been enforced
against the decedent if the decedent had not died. In any action
based upon the debt, the person may assert any defense,
cross-complaint, or setoff that would have been available to the
decedent if the decedent had not died. Nothing in this section
permits enforcement of a claim that is barred under Part 4
(commencing with Section 9000) of Division 7. Section 366.2 of the
Code of Civil Procedure applies in an action under this section.

13205. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), each person who
is designated as a successor of the decedent in a certified copy of
any affidavit issued under Section 13202 is personally liable to the
extent provided in Section 13207 to any person having a superior
right by testate or intestate succession from the decedent.
(b) In addition to any other liability the person has under this
section and Sections 13204, 13206, and 13207, if the person
fraudulently executed or filed the affidavit under this chapter, the
person is liable to the person having a superior right for three
times the fair market value of the property. For the purposes of this
subdivision, the "fair market value of the property" is the fair
market value, determined as of the time the certified copy of the
affidavit was issued under Section 13202, of the property the person
liable took under the certified copy of the affidavit to which the
other person has a superior right, less any liens and encumbrances on
the property at that time.
(c) An action to impose liability under this section is forever
barred three years after the certified copy of the affidavit is
issued under Section 13202, or three years after the discovery of the
fraud, whichever is later. The three-year period specified in this
subdivision is not tolled for any reason.

13206. (a) Subject to subdivisions (b), (c), (d), and (e), if
proceedings for the administration of the decedent's estate are
commenced, or if the decedent's personal representative has consented
to use of the procedure provided by this chapter and the personal
representative later requests that the property be restored to the
estate, each person who is designated as a successor of the decedent
in a certified copy of an affidavit issued under Section 13202 is
liable for:
(1) The restitution to the decedent's estate of the property the
person took under the certified copy of the affidavit if the person
still has the property, together with (A) the net income the person
received from the property and (B) if the person encumbered the
property after the certified copy of the affidavit was issued, the
amount necessary to satisfy the balance of the encumbrance as of the
date the property is restored to the estate.
(2) The restitution to the decedent's estate of the fair market
value of the property if the person no longer has the property,
together with (A) the net income the person received from the
property prior to disposing of it and (B) interest from the date of
disposition at the rate payable on a money judgment on the fair
market value of the property. For the purposes of this paragraph, the
"fair market value of the property" is the fair market value,
determined as of the time of the disposition of the property, of the
property the person took under the certified copy of the affidavit,
less the amount of any liens and encumbrances on the property at the
time the certified copy of the affidavit was issued.
(b) Subject to subdivision (d), if the person fraudulently
executed or filed the affidavit under this chapter, the person is
liable under this section for restitution to the decedent's estate of
three times the fair market value of the property. For the purposes
of this subdivision, the "fair market value of the property" is the
fair market value, determined as of the time the certified copy of
the affidavit was issued, of the property the person took under the
certified copy of the affidavit, less the amount of any liens and
encumbrances on the property at that time.
(c) Subject to subdivision (d), if proceedings for the
administration of the decedent's estate are commenced and a person
designated as a successor of the decedent in a certified copy of an
affidavit issued under Section 13202 made a significant improvement
to the property taken by the person under the certified copy of the
affidavit in the good faith belief that the person was the successor
of the decedent to that property, the person is liable for whichever
of the following the decedent's estate elects:
(1) The restitution of the property, as improved, to the estate of
the decedent upon the condition that the estate reimburse the person
making restitution for (A) the amount by which the improvement
increases the fair market value of the property restored, determined
as of the time of restitution, and (B) the amount paid by the person
for principal and interest on any liens or encumbrances that were on
the property at the time the certified copy of the affidavit was
issued.
(2) The restoration to the decedent's estate of the fair market
value of the property, determined as of the time of the issuance of
the certified copy of the affidavit under Section 13202, less the
amount of any liens and encumbrances on the property at that time,
together with interest on the net amount at the rate payable on a
money judgment running from the date of the issuance of the certified
copy of the affidavit.
(d) The property and amount required to be restored to the estate
under this section shall be reduced by any property or amount paid by
the person to satisfy a liability under Section 13204 or 13205.
(e) An action to enforce the liability under this section may be
brought only by the personal representative of the estate of the
decedent. In an action to enforce the liability under this section,
the court's judgment may enforce the liability only to the extent
necessary to protect the interests of the heirs, devisees, and
creditors of the decedent.
(f) An action to enforce the liability under this section is
forever barred three years after the certified copy of the affidavit
is issued under Section 13202, or three years after the discovery of
the fraud, whichever is later. The three-year period specified in
this subdivision is not tolled for any reason.

13207. (a) A person designated as a successor of the decedent in a
certified copy of an affidavit issued under Section 13202 is not
liable under Section 13204 or 13205 if proceedings for the
administration of the decedent's estate are commenced, or if the
decedent's personal representative has consented to use of the
procedure provided by this chapter and the personal representative
later requests that the property be restored to the estate, and the
person satisfies the requirements of Section 13206.
(b) Except as provided in subdivision (b) of Section 13205, the
aggregate of the personal liability of a person under Sections 13204
and 13205 shall not exceed the sum of the following:
(1) The fair market value at the time of the issuance of the
certified copy of the affidavit under Section 13202 of the decedent's
property received by that person under this chapter, less the amount
of any liens and encumbrances on the property at that time.
(2) The net income the person received from the property.
(3) If the property has been disposed of, interest on the fair
market value of the property from the date of disposition at the rate
payable on a money judgment. For the purposes of this paragraph,
"fair market value of the property" has the same meaning as defined
in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 13206.

13208. The remedies available under Sections 13204 to 13207,
inclusive, are in addition to any remedies available by reason of any
fraud or intentional wrongdoing.

13210. The procedure provided by this chapter may be used only if
one of the following requirements is satisfied:
(a) No proceeding for the administration of the decedent's estate
is pending or has been conducted in this state.
(b) The decedent's personal representative consents in writing to
use of the procedure provided by this chapter.