Disposition of estate without administration.

(1) Existing law authorizes procedures to dispose of a decedent's personal and real property that is valued below specified dollar amounts without a full probate administration. Existing law also authorizes procedures for a decedent's property, including unpaid compensation, to pass to a surviving spouse, under specified conditions that include whether the property is community, quasi-community, or separate property. This bill would increase the specified dollar amounts for a small estate to qualify for disposition without a full probate administration. The bill would also increase the dollar amounts for a surviving spouse to collect unpaid compensation from the decedent-spouse's employer. The bill would also require, on April 1, 2022, and at each 3-year interval ending on April 1 thereafter, the Judicial Council to adjust these dollar amounts based on a particular consumer price index published by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. The bill would further require the Judicial Council to publish the adjusted dollar amounts and the date of the next scheduled adjustment. (2) Existing law imposes various types of liability on a person who receives personal or real property from an estate pursuant to the above-described procedures and is later required to return that property. Under certain conditions, the extent of the recipient's liability includes interest on the fair market value of the property at the rate payable on a money judgment. This bill would instead impose an interest rate of 7 percent per annum on the fair market value of the property. The bill would also authorize a court, in its discretion, to excuse a person from the liability to pay interest, in whole or in part, if the person acted reasonably and in good faith under the circumstances as known to the person and it would be equitable to do so. (3) This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to these provisions.