(a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), each person to whom payment, delivery, or transfer of the decedent’s property is made under this chapter is personally liable to the extent provided in Section 13112 to any person having a superior right by testate or intestate succession from the decedent.
(b) In addition to any other liability the person has under this section and Sections 13109, 13111, and 13112, any person who fraudulently secures the payment, delivery, or transfer of the decedent’s property under this chapter is liable to the person having such a superior right for three times the fair market value of the property. For the purposes of this subdivision, the “fair market value of the property” is the fair market value of the property paid, delivered, or transferred to the person liable under this subdivision, valued as of the time the person liable under this subdivision presents the affidavit or declaration under this chapter to the holder of the decedent’s property, less any liens and encumbrances on that property at that time.
(c) An action to impose liability under this section is forever barred three years after the affidavit or declaration is presented under this chapter to the holder of the decedent’s property, or three years after the discovery of the fraud, whichever is later. The three-year period specified in this subdivision is not tolled for any reason.
(Amended by Stats. 1991, Ch. 1055, Sec. 39.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018