2023 Maine Revised Statutes › TITLE 18-C: PROBATE CODE › Article 3: PROBATE OF WILLS AND ADMINISTRATION › Part 8: CREDITORS' CLAIMS › 18-C §3-817. Survival of actions

§3-817. Survival of actions
1.  Survival of actions.
No personal action or cause of action is lost by the death of either party, but the same survives for and against the personal representative of the deceased, except that actions or causes of action for the recovery of penalties and fines under criminal statutes do not survive the death of the defendant. A personal representative may seek relief from a judgment in an action to which the deceased was a party to the same extent that the deceased might have done so.
[PL 2017, c. 402, Pt. A, §2 (NEW); PL 2019, c. 417, Pt. B, §14 (AFF).]
2.  Death of plaintiff or defendant.
When the only plaintiff or defendant dies while an action that survives is pending, or after its commencement and before entry of judgment, the decedent's personal representative may appear and enter the action or any appeal that has been made, and suggest on the record the death of the party. If the personal representative does not appear within 90 days after the appointment, the personal representative may be cited to appear, and after due notice judgment may be entered against the personal representative by dismissal or default if no such appearance is made.
[PL 2017, c. 402, Pt. A, §2 (NEW); PL 2019, c. 417, Pt. B, §14 (AFF).]
3.  Death of one of several plaintiffs or one of several defendants.
When either of several plaintiffs or defendants in an action that survives dies, the death may be suggested on the record, and the personal representative of the deceased may appear or be cited to appear as provided in subsection 2. The action may be further prosecuted or defended by the survivors and the personal representative jointly or by either of them. The survivors, if any, on both sides of the action may testify as witnesses.
[PL 2017, c. 402, Pt. A, §2 (NEW); PL 2019, c. 417, Pt. B, §14 (AFF).]
4.  Death of judgment creditor.
When a judgment creditor dies before the first execution issues or before an execution issued in the judgment creditor's lifetime is fully satisfied, the execution may be issued or be effective in favor of the deceased judgment creditor's personal representative, but an execution may not be issued or be effective beyond the time within which it would have been effective or issued if the party had not died.
[PL 2017, c. 402, Pt. A, §2 (NEW); PL 2019, c. 417, Pt. B, §14 (AFF).]
5.  Execution in favor of deceased judgment creditor.
An execution issued under subsection 4 must set forth the fact that the judgment creditor has died since the rendition of the judgment and that the substituted party is the personal representative of the decedent's estate.
[PL 2017, c. 402, Pt. A, §2 (NEW); PL 2019, c. 417, Pt. B, §14 (AFF).]
6.  Liability of personal representative.
The personal representative proceeding under this section is liable, and shall hold any recovered property or award, in a representative capacity, except as otherwise provided in section 3-808.
[PL 2017, c. 402, Pt. A, §2 (NEW); PL 2019, c. 417, Pt. B, §14 (AFF).]
SECTION HISTORY
PL 2017, c. 402, Pt. A, §2 (NEW). PL 2017, c. 402, Pt. F, §1 (AFF). PL 2019, c. 417, Pt. B, §14 (AFF).