Opinion ID: 2804021
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Any other claim, within three months after it arises.

Text: [¶30] The plain language of N.D.C.C. § 30.1-19-03(2) (U.P.C. § 3-803) applies to “claims against a decedent’s estate” and does not apply to claims an estate may have against devisees for a retainer. We conclude the personal representative’s claim for a retainer is not barred by the plain language of N.D.C.C. § 30.1-19-03(2) (U.P.C. § 3-803). [¶31] Section 30.1-21-06, N.D.C.C. (U.P.C. § 3-1006), provides: Unless previously adjudicated in a formal testacy proceeding or in a proceeding settling the accounts of a personal representative or unless otherwise barred, the claim of any claimant to recover from a distributee who is liable to pay the claim, and the right of any heir or devisee, or of a successor personal representative acting in their behalf, to recover property improperly distributed or the value thereof from any distributee is forever barred at the later of:

This section does not bar an action to recover property or value received as the result of fraud. [¶32] The plain language of N.D.C.C. § 30.1-21-06 (U.P.C. § 3-1006), applies to time limits to “recover property improperly distributed . . . from any distributee.” A personal representative’s claim for a retainer against a devisee is not a claim to “recover property improperly distributed,” and we conclude the personal representative’s claim for a retainer is not barred by the plain language of N.D.C.C. § 30.1-21-06 (U.P.C. § 3-1006).