California Probate Code 5677 – (a) If proceedings for the administration of the transferor’s …
(a) If proceedings for the administration of the transferor‘s estate are commenced, a beneficiary of a revocable transfer on death deed is personally liable to the estate for a share of the transferor’s unsecured debts.
(b) In calculating the beneficiary‘s share of liability under subdivision (a), the abatement rules provided in Part 4 (commencing with Section 21400) of Division 11 shall be applied, using all of the following assumptions:
Terms Used In California Probate Code 5677
- 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
- Beneficiary: means a person to whom a donative transfer of property is made or that person's successor in interest, and:
California Probate Code 24
- Decedent: A deceased person.
- Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
- Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
- Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
- Personal representative: means executor, administrator, administrator with the will annexed, special administrator, successor personal representative, public administrator acting pursuant to Section 7660, or a person who performs substantially the same function under the law of another jurisdiction governing the person's status. See California Probate Code 58
- Property: means anything that may be the subject of ownership and includes both real and personal property and any interest therein. See California Probate Code 62
- Transferor: means the testator, settlor, grantor, owner, or other person who executes an instrument. See California Probate Code 81
- Will: includes codicil and any testamentary instrument which merely appoints an executor or revokes or revises another will. See California Probate Code 88
(1) The property that was transferred to the beneficiary by revocable transfer on death deed shall be treated as if it were a specific gift made by the decedent‘s will.
(2) The value of the property received by the beneficiary pursuant to the revocable transfer on death deed shall be deemed to be the fair market value of the property at the time of the transferor’s death, less the amount of any liens and encumbrances on the property at that time.
(3) Any unsecured debts of the transferor that were paid by the beneficiary pursuant to Section 5672 shall be treated as if they were claims made against the transferor’s estate.
(c) The personal representative shall provide a written statement of liability to the beneficiary, which specifies the amount that must be paid to the estate.
(d) The beneficiary is personally liable to the estate for the amount specified in the statement of liability. Any amount that the beneficiary paid toward the unsecured debts of the transferor pursuant to Section 5672 shall be credited against the amount that the beneficiary owes the estate under this subdivision. If the amount that the beneficiary paid pursuant to Section 5672 exceeds the amount specified in the written statement of liability, the estate shall reimburse the difference to the beneficiary. For the purposes of Section 11420, this reimbursement shall be deemed an expense of administration.
(e) In the event that the beneficiary and the personal representative cannot agree on the reimbursement or liability due under this section, the beneficiary or personal representative may petition the court for an order determining the amount of the reimbursement or liability.
(f) The reasonable cost of proceeding under this section shall be reimbursed as an extraordinary service under Sections 10801 and 10811. The beneficiary is liable for the payment of that cost, which shall be separately identified in the statement of liability.
(Added by Stats. 2021, Ch. 215, Sec. 21. (SB 315) Effective January 1, 2022. Repealed as of January 1, 2032, pursuant to Section 5600.)