SECTIONS 6200-6211 - California Statutes

PROBATE CODE

SECTION 6200-6211

6200. Unless the provision or context clearly requires otherwise,
these definitions and rules of construction govern the construction
of this chapter.

6201. "Testator" means a person choosing to adopt a California
statutory will.

6203. "Executor" means both the person so designated in a
California statutory will and any other person acting at any time as
the executor or administrator under a California statutory will.

6204. "Trustee" means both the person so designated in a California
statutory will and any other person acting at any time as the
trustee under a California statutory will.

6205. "Descendants" mean children, grandchildren, and their lineal
descendants of all generations, with the relationship of parent and
child at each generation being determined as provided in Section
21115. A reference to "descendants" in the plural includes a single
descendant where the context so requires.

6206. A reference in a California statutory will to the "Uniform
Gifts to Minors Act of any state" or the "Uniform Transfers to Minors
Act of any state" includes both the Uniform Gifts to Minors Act of
any state and the Uniform Transfers to Minors Act of any state. A
reference to a "custodian" means the person so designated in a
California statutory will or any other person acting at any time as a
custodian under a Uniform Gifts to Minors Act or Uniform Transfers
to Minors Act.

6207. Masculine pronouns include the feminine, and plural and
singular words include each other, where appropriate.

6208. (a) If a California statutory will states that a person shall
perform an act, the person is required to perform that act.
(b) If a California statutory will states that a person may do an
act, the person's decision to do or not to do the act shall be made
in the exercise of the person's fiduciary powers.

6209. Whenever a distribution under a California statutory will is
to be made to a person's descendants, the property shall be divided
into as many equal shares as there are then living descendants of the
nearest degree of living descendants and deceased descendants of
that same degree who leave descendants then living; and each living
descendant of the nearest degree shall receive one share and the
share of each deceased descendant of that same degree shall be
divided among his or her descendants in the same manner.

6210. "Person" includes individuals and institutions.

6211. Reference to a person "if living" or who "survives me" means
a person who survives the decedent by 120 hours. A person who fails
to survive the decedent by 120 hours is deemed to have predeceased
the decedent for the purpose of a California statutory will, and the
beneficiaries are determined accordingly. If it cannot be established
by clear and convincing evidence that a person who would otherwise
be a beneficiary has survived the decedent by 120 hours, it is deemed
that the person failed to survive for the required period. The
requirement of this section that a person who survives the decedent
must survive the decedent by 120 hours does not apply if the
application of the 120-hour survival requirement would result in the
escheat of property to the state.