Probate Code, 1990

Before the hearing, the court must tell the spouse about the hearing-related consequences and the spouse’s right to counsel, unless a stated exception applies.

The court must issue an order declaring a spouse legally capable if the petition and the court’s determination satisfy the section’s conditions.

The court may authorize a proposed transaction about spouses’ community property if specific capacity, consent, and property conditions are met.

A court ruling that a spouse lacks legal capacity for a proposed transaction applies only to that transaction.

The court must require the petitioner to give a bond, unless the court dispenses with it for good cause.

The petitioner must carry out court-directed document steps, record a certified copy of the order in affected counties, and—if the sale is on credit—take a note and approved security for the unpaid balance.

A transaction document made under the court’s order is valid and effective as though the property were owned solely by the person making it.

A petitioning conservator who executes certain instruments under this chapter generally has no personal liability, except when the conservator is one of the spouses.

If a court-authorized transaction is not completed by another party, the court may vacate its order on the petitioner’s application. The petitioner may also seek authorization for another sale or encumbrance, and the court may approve it if it benefits the spouses or their estates.

This section defines “devise” as a disposition of real or personal property by will, and as a verb meaning to dispose of real or personal property by will.

This section defines key terms used in Part 7, including health care, health care decision, health care institution, and patient.

A petition may be filed to ask the court to decide whether a patient can make certain health care decisions, or lacks that capacity and needs a designated person to decide for them.

A petition may be filed in the superior court of the county where the patient lives, is temporarily living, or another county if that is in the patient's best interests.

The patient and certain related or public officials may file a petition.

A petitioner must include specified medical and consent-related facts in a petition or attached medical declaration.

When a petition is filed, the court must identify the patient’s attorney, and if the patient has no attorney and does not plan to hire one, the court must appoint counsel for the hearing.

This section requires notice of the hearing and a copy of the petition to be served or delivered at least 15 days before the hearing, and lets the court shorten or waive notice for good cause.

A petitioned matter may be submitted to the court for decision if proper medical declarations are provided and both lawyers stipulate that no factual issue remains.

The court may authorize recommended health care and appoint someone to consent for the patient if the statutory conditions are met.

In this type of proceeding, the court must find capacity if the patient has it, may be asked to decide acceptance/refusal and informed consent, and must not authorize treatment or appoint someone to consent if the patient has capacity but refuses consent.

The court where the petition is filed may revoke or modify an order made under this part if a petition is filed, noticed, and heard like an original petition.

This part is supplemental and optional, and it does not limit emergency health care or override existing rights or hospital decisionmaking.

This section forbids placing a person in a mental health treatment facility, prescribing or administering an experimental drug, performing convulsive treatment, or sterilizing a person under this part, and it yields to a valid advance health care directive.

This section preserves an individual's right to choose spiritual treatment instead of medical treatment, and it bars forcing such a person to undergo medical testing for a capacity determination.

Certain listed custodians may hand over a decedent’s tangible personal property without waiting 40 days, but they must check identity, keep a 3-year record, and stop if there is a possession dispute.

A parent who receives a minor’s money or property under this part must account to the minor when the minor reaches the age of majority.

This section says this part does not limit the California Uniform Transfers to Minors Act, Part 9, starting at Section 3900.

This section lets a key holder access a decedent’s safe deposit box before letters issue only after giving the bank proof of death and identity, and it limits what can be done with the box’s contents.

A devisee is a person named in a will to receive a devise; if the devise is to an existing trust or trustee, the trust or trustee is the devisee instead.

This section defines the minor’s “total estate” and says two categories must be deducted when calculating it.

A parent entitled to custody may receive a minor’s money or property, but only if the minor’s total estate is $5,000 or less and the parent gives verified written assurance of that fact.

A parent’s written receipt, given with the written assurance under Section 3401, is a discharge for the person who paid money or delivered property under this article.

This article applies to certain minor-money situations and excludes custodial property and money or property subject to specified court orders.

Certain people may file a petition asking the court for an order under this article, and the petition must be filed in the proper superior court county.

If a minor’s guardianship estate is only money, the court may end the guardianship and order specific ways to handle the money, including deposit, transfer, restricted holding, payment to a parent, or county treasurer handling.

If a minor has no estate guardian and has money, the court may choose among several ways to protect or place the money, and the county treasurer has specific duties if money is deposited with the treasurer.

This section says the part may be cited as the Fiduciaries’ Wartime Substitution Law.

A parent may settle a minor’s disputed claim, but the settlement or covenant is effective only after superior court approval.

The court must schedule a hearing on a petition to compromise a minor’s disputed claim within 30 days after filing. If the petition is unopposed, the court must decide it at the end of the hearing.

This article's definitions apply to this part unless the provision or context requires otherwise.

This section defines “consultant” for trust matters.

“Estate” is defined to include several kinds of estates and other property subject to a donative transfer.

“Interested person” includes someone with a property right or claim against a guardianship, conservatorship, or other estate affected by the proceeding.

“Original fiduciary” is defined as a fiduciary replaced by a substitute fiduciary or one who makes a delegation of power under this part.

This section defines when a fiduciary or consultant counts as being engaged in war service for this part.

For this code, “dissolution of marriage” includes divorce.

This section says the part applies to all fiduciaries and consultants, including those appointed or acting before, on, or after July 1, 1989.

This chapter applies when a court approves certain compromises, covenants, or judgments involving a minor or person with a disability, and the result provides money or other property for that person’s benefit.

A court that makes the related order or judgment must also order payment of approved reasonable expenses, including medical expenses, reimbursement, costs, and attorney’s fees, from the money or property for the minor or disabled person’s benefit.

This section directs how remaining money or property must be handled after expenses are paid, depending on whether there is a guardianship or conservatorship.

This section defines “person with a disability” for this chapter.

Courts must review and approve special needs trust terms, and the trust must meet this section’s requirements before it can be established or continued.

This section requires the trustee to notify specified state and local entities when a special needs trust beneficiary dies or the trust ends, and it sets claim deadlines and consequences.

This part does not apply where a valid instrument says something different or contrary, or is otherwise inconsistent with this part.

If money or other property is paid or delivered for a minor or a person with a disability and there is no guardianship or conservatorship of the estate, the remaining balance must be handled under this article after court-approved expenses, costs, and fees are paid.

In certain Section 3610 cases, the court may choose among several ways to handle a minor’s or disabled person’s remaining money or property, including appointment of a guardian or conservator, deposit, trust placement, or payment to the person.

The court keeps continuing jurisdiction over money or property handled under this article, unless the court orders otherwise; for a qualifying disabled person’s trust, that jurisdiction continues after age 18 until the court terminates it.

A court may not make certain orders or judgments for an adult with capacity to consent and no conservator of the estate unless that adult expressly consents.

Proceedings under this part must be brought in the court with jurisdiction over the estate, or if none, in any court where jurisdiction of the estate is proper.

Notice of a hearing under this part must be delivered at least 15 days before the hearing to fiduciaries, consultants, and certain other persons.

This section defines “domestic partner” and says a surviving partner is entitled to surviving-domestic-partner rights if the partnership ended because of death and no Notice of Termination was filed before the decedent’s death.

If a fiduciary is in war service, the court may appoint a substitute fiduciary, give the cofiduciary the original fiduciary’s powers, suspend the original fiduciary’s powers and duties, or require an accounting.

This section defines several terms used in the chapter.

A court may, on petition, set aside an absentee’s in-state personal property to the absentee’s family if it is in the absentee’s best interest.

Certain people may file a petition asking the court to set aside an absentee’s personal property.

A petition under this chapter must include specific information about the absentee and the property, and it must be accompanied by a certificate of missing status.

The petitioner must give notice of the hearing and proceeding at least 15 days before the hearing, using the listed methods.

On hearing the petition, certain people may support or oppose it, and the court may set aside up to $20,000 of the absentee’s California personal property to the family if the petition’s allegations are true and correct. No bond is required from the person receiving the property.

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Joint-tenancy property held by an absentee counts as the absentee’s property for this chapter, and that interest may be set aside to the absentee’s family only if the family member was also a joint tenant.

After an absentee returns or is determined dead, the former absentee or the deceased absentee’s personal representative may seek an accounting of the property set aside.

A substitute fiduciary has the same powers as the original fiduciary, except powers the court finds are purely personal to the original fiduciary, and must follow the same duties.

The absentee’s family may handle the absentee’s personal property in this state without a court proceeding if the stated conditions are met.

The absentee’s family may get the absentee’s property-related interests transferred if Section 3710 applies and they provide a certificate of missing status and an affidavit.

An absentee’s time to start an action begins on the earlier of two dates: 90 days after returning to the United States after the condition ends, or 2 years after the condition ends.

A substitute fiduciary must give a bond, unless the court orders otherwise.

A power of attorney executed by an absentee can keep working beyond its stated expiration, and people relying on it with a copy of a missing-status certificate are not liable for that reliance.

For this chapter, an attorney-in-fact or third person is treated as not actually knowing certain facts about an absentee principal.

A spouse who is the attorney-in-fact can lose authority if a dissolution, annulment, or legal-separation proceeding starts, or if a legal separation is ordered.

After a fiduciary’s war service ends, the original fiduciary can petition to be reinstated if the estate is still open.

A substitute fiduciary, or an original fiduciary reinstated under Section 373, is not liable for the predecessor fiduciary’s acts or omissions.

“Family allowance” is defined as an allowance provided for in Chapter 4 (starting with Section 6540) of Part 3 of Division 6.

A fiduciary engaged in war service may delegate powers to a fiduciary who is not engaged in war service, but the delegation needs court approval and is time-limited.

A qualified nonresident fiduciary may seek removal of the nonresident’s property to the place of residence, and the petition must be filed in the proper superior court county. If a conservatorship was transferred to another state, the foreign conservator may remove the conservatee’s personal property from this state without filing a petition under this chapter.

A petition must be given 15 days’ notice by delivery to specified persons, and the court may require any additional notice.

A nonresident fiduciary must file specified certificates, and foreign-country certificates need a qualifying final statement.

A court must allow a nonresident fiduciary to remove a nonresident’s property to the person’s place of residence if the listed conditions are met and no good cause against it is shown.

A fiduciary’s right to delegate does not apply when the court determines the powers are purely personal to that fiduciary.

After the original fiduciary’s war service ends, the court may let that fiduciary resume fiduciary functions, and the delegated powers stop.

The original fiduciary is not liable for the delegate’s acts or omissions.

A consultant in war service may delegate the consultant’s powers, including discretionary powers, to a qualified coconsultant or the trustee administering the trust, unless the court treats the powers as purely personal.

If a consultant is in war service and has not delegated the consultant’s powers, the court may suspend those powers or give them to another qualified person.

If a consultant’s powers were delegated or suspended, the court may let the consultant resume functions if the consultant petitions within six months after war service ends.

A consultant who delegates powers under this article is not liable for the delegate’s acts or omissions.

“Fiduciary” is defined to include several kinds of legal representatives, such as a personal representative, trustee, guardian, conservator, attorney-in-fact, or custodian.

This section gives Part 9 the short title “California Uniform Transfers to Minors Act.”

This section defines key terms used in the part on transfers to minors.

This section says when the part applies to a transfer, when the custodianship stays under this part, and that a custodian is subject to personal jurisdiction in this state.

A person who can designate who receives certain future-transfer property may nominate a custodian for a minor beneficiary, and that nomination can also name substitute custodians.

A person may transfer property to a custodian for a minor by irrevocable gift or by irrevocable exercise of a power of appointment, subject to Section 3909.

A personal representative or trustee may transfer property to a custodian for a minor, and must follow the nominated custodian if one was named; otherwise they must choose an eligible custodian.

Certain personal representatives, trustees, and conservators may make irrevocable transfers to a custodian for a minor, but only if the stated conditions are met.

This section lets certain people transfer a minor’s property or a debt owed to a minor to a custodian, with rules for who must receive the transfer and when an alternate recipient may be used.

A custodian’s written acknowledgment of delivery counts as a sufficient receipt and discharge for custodial property transferred under this part.

This section says custodial property is created when specified transfers are made, and the transferor must place the custodian in control of the property as soon as practicable.

A transfer under this section may be made only for one minor, and only one person may serve as custodian.

This section says certain defects do not affect a transfer under the act, the transfer is irrevocable, the custodial property vests in the minor, and the custodian gets the rights and powers provided here.

A custodian must control, manage, keep separate, and keep records for custodial property, and may take certain investment and retention actions subject to stated conditions.

A custodian has the same rights, powers, and authority over custodial property as an unmarried adult owner, but only while acting in a custodial capacity.

A custodian may use custodial property for the minor’s benefit, and a court may order additional use on petition in some cases.

A custodian may be reimbursed for reasonable expenses, may elect once each calendar year to charge reasonable compensation (unless the custodian is a transferor under Section 3904), and generally does not have to give a bond.

A third person may deal with a purported transferor or custodian in good faith and without a court order.

Claims tied to custodial property may be pursued against the custodian in that custodial capacity, and the custodian and minor generally are not personally liable except in stated fault or disclosure situations.

This section lets custodians, transferors, minors in some cases, and courts handle successor custodians, resignation, notice, and removal procedures.

Several listed people may ask the court for an accounting from a custodian, and the court can order an accounting or, if a custodian is removed, require transfer of the property and records to the successor custodian.

The custodian must transfer the custodial property to the minor or the minor’s estate when the earliest listed event happens.

This section lets the transfer of custodial property to a minor be delayed to a later specified time, but only within the age limits and conditions stated here.

Petitions filed under this part must be heard in the superior court of the proper county.

This section says Part 9 applies to certain transfers within Section 3902 scope made on or after January 1, 1985, if they were treated as made under the California Uniform Gifts to Minors Act or if the instrument uses similar custodianship wording and applying this part is needed to validate the transfer.

This section defines a former law name and validates certain pre-1985 custodial-property transfers, with exceptions for constitutionally vested rights.

This part is not the only way to make gifts or other transfers to minors.

Headings in this code do not change the meaning, scope, or intent of its provisions.

This section defines “financial institution” to include certain banks, savings and loan associations, credit unions, or similar organizations.

The Controller must appoint at least one probate referee in each county. If a county has fewer than three qualified applicants, the Controller may appoint someone from another county or make an interim appointment until the vacancy is filled.

This division may be cited as the Power of Attorney Law.

Sections 4124, 4125, 4126, 4127, 4206, 4304, and 4305 may be cited as the Uniform Durable Power of Attorney Act.

A person who passes the qualification examination may be eligible for appointment for five years from the examination date.

This chapter’s definitions apply to the division unless the provision or context requires a different reading.

This section defines “attorney-in-fact” as a person authorized to act for the principal under a power of attorney, including certain successors, alternates, and delegated persons.

“Durable power of attorney” is defined as a power of attorney that meets the durability requirements in Section 4124.

The Controller sets the time and place of the probate referee qualification exam, may use another agency to run it, applicants must pay a fee, and the administering agency must send the Controller the passing-candidate list.

A power of attorney is a written document, whatever it is called, that a competent natural person signs and that gives authority to an attorney-in-fact.

This section defines “principal” as a natural person who executes a power of attorney.

Probate referees serve four-year terms that expire on June 30; some may fill unexpired terms, and eligible former referees may be reappointed within five years after expiration.

A “springing power of attorney” is one that becomes effective later, when a stated future time, event, or contingency happens.

This section defines “third person” as anyone other than the principal or the attorney-in-fact.

The Controller must establish standards for probate referees and may amend them. The Controller may also revoke a probate referee appointment for noncompliance with those standards.

The Controller may revoke a probate referee’s appointment, despite Section 404, but the revocations are limited to no more than 10% of probate referees in a county in any calendar year and must include at least one referee in each county each year.

This section says which powers of attorney are covered by this division, and which are excluded.

Unless this division has a specific rule, the general law of agency applies to powers of attorney.

This section says when this division applies to a power of attorney and to the attorney-in-fact’s acts and transactions.

A durable power of attorney made in another state or jurisdiction is valid and enforceable in this state if it complies with the law of that other place or with this state’s law.

This section says when the division on powers of attorney applies, including to pre-1995 documents and proceedings, subject to stated exceptions.

A probate referee’s authority ends immediately when the term ends, the appointment is revoked, or the law otherwise terminates it.

Probate referees and applicants may not engage in prohibited political activity, must file annual verified statements with the Controller, and can be denied or lose appointment for violations.

A probate referee appointment made by the Controller before July 1, 1989 is not made invalid just because the old law was repealed, and such an appointment may be revoked only when revocation would otherwise be proper under this chapter.

This section says the part applies to all powers of attorney in the division, but special rules apply to statutory form powers of attorney under Part 3 starting at Section 4400.

The principal may limit most provisions of a power of attorney, but not certain statutes or required warnings, formalities, witness qualifications, attorney-in-fact qualifications, or third-party liability protections.

This section sets conditions for selling, distributing, and validating printed forms of durable powers of attorney.

A natural person who has capacity to contract may execute a power of attorney.

A power of attorney is legally sufficient only if it is dated, properly signed, and either notarized or signed by two qualifying witnesses.

If a power of attorney is signed by witnesses, the witnesses must be adults, the attorney-in-fact cannot serve as a witness, and each witness must witness the principal’s signing or acknowledgment.

A principal may give an attorney-in-fact authority to act on the principal’s behalf.

This section defines a durable power of attorney as a written power of attorney in which a principal names another person as attorney-in-fact and includes one of the listed incapacity-related statements.

Acts done by an attorney-in-fact under a durable power of attorney during the principal’s incapacity have the same effect as if the principal had capacity.

A principal may nominate a conservator or guardian in a durable power of attorney, and the court must give effect to the most recent qualifying writing in certain conservatorship proceedings.

If a power of attorney does not state a termination time, the attorney-in-fact may continue to exercise the authority even after time has passed since the document was signed.

This section requires certain durable power of attorney forms to include bold warning statements, and it sets out key duties, limits, and rights of the principal and agent.

A principal in a springing power of attorney may name one or more people to decide when the stated event or contingency has happened, and the power becomes effective when those people sign a declaration under penalty of perjury.

If a principal gives conflicting authority to multiple attorneys-in-fact in two or more powers of attorney, the most recently granted authority controls for the inconsistency. This section cannot be limited by the power of attorney.

A principal may modify a power of attorney if the modification follows the document’s terms or is executed in the same manner as the original power of attorney.

A principal may revoke a power of attorney by following its terms or by writing. An attorney-in-fact or third person without notice of the revocation is protected from liability.

An attorney-in-fact’s authority ends when the listed events occur, including the terms of the power of attorney, revocation, death, removal, resignation, incapacity, or marital dissolution, with a limited suspension rule for temporary incapacity.

A power of attorney can be revoked by following its terms, by the principal’s oral or written notice, or by the principal’s legal representative with court approval and written notice.

If a principal’s marriage to the attorney-in-fact ends by dissolution or annulment, the former spouse is no longer the attorney-in-fact. If that authority was revoked only for that reason, it comes back if the principal remarries the attorney-in-fact.

Under a nondurable power of attorney, the attorney-in-fact’s authority ends if the principal becomes incapacitated to contract, unless subdivision (b) applies.

This section says the term “General personal representative” is defined in Section 58(b).

Only a person who has the capacity to contract may serve as an attorney-in-fact.

If an unqualified person is designated as an attorney-in-fact, third persons’ immunities are unchanged, and the unqualified person still has any applicable duties to the principal or the principal’s successors.

A principal may appoint more than one attorney-in-fact, and multiple attorneys-in-fact must act unanimously unless a vacancy or temporary unavailability allows the others to act alone. An attorney-in-fact is generally not liable for another attorney-in-fact’s actions unless they participate in or conceal a fiduciary breach.

A principal may name successor attorneys-in-fact, and may authorize another designated person to name successors as well.

An attorney-in-fact is entitled to reasonable compensation and reimbursement of reasonable expenses.

An attorney-in-fact may revokeably delegate authority to qualified persons to perform mechanical acts, but remains responsible to the principal for how that delegated authority is exercised or not exercised.

When certain fiduciaries are appointed for the principal’s property, the attorney-in-fact must answer to them as well as the principal. A fiduciary may revoke or amend the durable power of attorney, but a conservator in this state may do so only with a court order and only as allowed by that order.

An attorney-in-fact may resign by notice, written agreement of a designated successor, or court order.

An attorney-in-fact generally has no duty to use the power of attorney, except that they must finish a transaction they started and must follow any written agreement to act for the principal.

An attorney-in-fact must use a prudent-person standard when dealing with the principal’s property, and if the attorney-in-fact has special skills or expertise, the standard is that of a similarly skilled person.

An attorney-in-fact who breaches a duty can be charged for the resulting loss, profit, or lost profit, with interest. A court may excuse all or part of that liability if the attorney-in-fact acted reasonably and in good faith and equity supports it.

An attorney-in-fact must act only in the principal’s interest and avoid conflicts of interest.

An attorney-in-fact must keep a principal’s property separate from other property and clearly identifiable as the principal’s.

An attorney-in-fact must keep regular contact with the principal, communicate with the principal, and follow the principal’s instructions, as far as reasonably practicable.

When the principal is incapacitated or capacity is in question, the attorney-in-fact may consult certain people and request needed information; those asked must disclose relevant information.

An attorney-in-fact must keep transaction records and, unless an exception applies, does not have to account for them; certain listed people may examine and copy the records.

An attorney-in-fact with special skills must use those skills to their full extent.

When an attorney-in-fact’s authority ends, they must promptly hand over the principal’s property and, if requested, related transaction records, and they still must account for their actions.

This article applies to all powers of attorney under this division, except as stated in subdivision (b).

If a power of attorney gives general authority and is not limited to specific actions or purposes, the attorney-in-fact has the authority to act that a person with capacity to contract could carry out through a specifically authorized attorney-in-fact.

If a power of attorney gives an attorney-in-fact limited authority, the attorney-in-fact may exercise the granted authority and whatever is incidental, necessary, or proper to carry it out.

A power of attorney may give the attorney-in-fact authority by referring to powers in other statutes.

An attorney-in-fact may do certain property and trust acts only if the power of attorney expressly allows it.

A power of attorney cannot let an attorney-in-fact make or change the principal’s will.

An attorney-in-fact’s granted authority does not by itself allow or require the power to be exercised, and any exercise is subject to fiduciary duties.

A third person must treat an attorney-in-fact as if the principal were present, but need not honor the attorney-in-fact’s authority or do business if the principal could not require the same action in the same circumstances.

A third person may rely on, contract with, and deal with an attorney-in-fact for matters covered by the power of attorney.

A third person may ask an attorney-in-fact for identification, signature specimens, other identifying information, and the principal’s current and permanent residence addresses before dealing with the attorney-in-fact.

A third person is protected from liability when relying in good faith on a power of attorney if the document is presented by the named attorney-in-fact, appears valid on its face, and has either a notarized acknowledgment or two witnesses.

A power of attorney is not revoked by the principal’s death or, for a nondurable power of attorney, by the principal’s incapacity, if the attorney-in-fact or a third person acts without actual knowledge and in good faith.

An attorney-in-fact may execute an affidavit about lack of knowledge of revocation, termination, death, or incapacity, and that affidavit is conclusive proof of the power’s continued validity at that time.

If an attorney-in-fact provides the Section 4305 affidavit, a third person who refuses to accept the authority stated in it may have to pay attorney’s fees, unless the court finds the third person acted in good faith.

A certified copy of a power of attorney has the same effect as the original, and only certain authorized people may certify it.