California Code of Civil Procedure 354.5 – (a) The following definitions govern the construction of this …
(a) The following definitions govern the construction of this section:
(1) “Holocaust victim” means any person who was persecuted during the period of 1929 to 1945, inclusive, by Nazi Germany, its allies, or sympathizers.
Terms Used In California Code of Civil Procedure 354.5
- action: as used in this Title is to be construed, whenever it is necessary so to do, as including a special proceeding of a civil nature. See California Code of Civil Procedure 363
- Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. Source: OCC
- County: includes "city and county. See California Code of Civil Procedure 17
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Person: includes a corporation as well as a natural person. See California Code of Civil Procedure 17
- Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
- Property: includes both personal and real property. See California Code of Civil Procedure 17
- State: includes the District of Columbia and the territories when applied to the different parts of the United States, and the words "United States" may include the district and territories. See California Code of Civil Procedure 17
- Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
(2) “Related company” means any parent, subsidiary, reinsurer, successor in interest, managing general agent, or affiliate company of the insurer.
(3) “Insurer” means an insurance provider doing business in the state, or whose contacts in the state satisfy the constitutional requirements for jurisdiction, that sold life, property, liability, health, annuities, dowry, educational, casualty, or any other insurance covering persons or property to persons in Europe at any time before 1945, directly or through a related company, whether the sale of the insurance occurred before or after the insurer and the related company became related.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any Holocaust victim, or heir or beneficiary of a Holocaust victim, who resides in this state and has a claim arising out of an insurance policy or policies purchased or in effect in Europe before 1945 from an insurer described in paragraph (3) of subdivision (a), may bring a legal action to recover on that claim in any superior court of the state for the county in which the plaintiff or one of the plaintiffs resides, which court shall be vested with jurisdiction over that action until its completion or resolution.
(c) Any action brought by a Holocaust victim or the heir or beneficiary of a Holocaust victim, whether a resident or nonresident of this state, seeking proceeds of the insurance policies issued or in effect before 1945 shall not be dismissed for failure to comply with the applicable statute of limitation, provided the action is commenced on or before December 31, 2010.
(Amended by Stats. 1999, Ch. 827, Sec. 1. Effective October 10, 1999.)