2023 California Code › Probate Code - PROB › DIVISION 8 - DISPOSITION OF ESTATE WITHOUT ADMINISTRATION › PART 1 - COLLECTION OR TRANSFER OF SMALL ESTATE WITHOUT ADMINISTRATION › CHAPTER 5 - Affidavit Procedure for Real Property of Small Value › Section 13206.

13206. (a) If property is transferred to a transferee under this chapter, and the decedent’s personal representative later determines that another person has a superior right to the property by testate or intestate succession from the decedent, the personal representative may request that the transferred property be restored to the estate. Subject to subdivisions (b), (c), (d), (e), and (g) if the personal representative makes that request, the transferee is liable for all of the following:
(1) If the transferee still has the transferred property, restitution of the transferred property to the decedent’s estate.
(2) If the transferee no longer has the transferred property, restitution to the decedent’s estate of the fair market value of the transferred property plus interest from the date of disposition at the rate of 7 percent per annum on the fair market value of the transferred property. For the purposes of this paragraph, the “fair market value of the transferred property” is the fair market value of the transferred property, determined as of the time of the disposition of the transferred property, less the amount of any liens and encumbrances on the transferred property at the time the certified copy of the affidavit was issued.
(b) Subject to subdivision (d), if the transferee fraudulently executed or filed the affidavit under this chapter, the transferee is liable under this section for restitution of three times the fair market value of the transferred property. For the purposes of this subdivision, the “fair market value of the transferred property” is the fair market value of the transferred property, determined as of the time the certified copy of the affidavit was issued, less the amount of any liens and encumbrances on the property at that time. Restitution provided under this subdivision shall first be used to pay the estate’s cost of proceeding under this section, with the remainder paid to the person who has a superior right to the property by testate or intestate succession.
(c) Subject to subdivision (d), if the transferee made a significant improvement to the transferred property in the good faith belief that the transferee was the successor of the decedent to that property, the transferee is liable for whichever of the following the decedent’s estate elects:
(1) The restitution of the transferred property to the estate of the decedent.
(2) The restoration to the decedent’s estate of the fair market value of the transferred property, determined as of the time of the issuance of the certified copy of the affidavit under Section 13202, less the amount of any liens and encumbrances on the transferred property at that time, together with interest on the net amount at the rate of 7 percent per annum running from the date of the issuance of the certified copy of the affidavit.
(d) The property and amount required to be restored to the estate under this section shall be reduced or increased as provided in Section 13208.5.
(e) An action to enforce the liability under this section may be brought only by the personal representative of the estate of the decedent.
(f) An action to enforce the liability under this section is forever barred three years after the certified copy of the affidavit is issued under Section 13202, 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.
(g) The transferee is not liable under subdivision (a) if the transferred property was returned to the estate under Section 13205.5.
(Repealed and added by Stats. 2022, Ch. 29, Sec. 20. (AB 1716) Effective January 1, 2023.)