(a) Except as provided in this Section, no cause of action shall be lost by reason of the death of any person but may be maintained by or against such person’s personal representative.

(b) In an action brought under this Section against a personal representative, all damages may be awarded which might have been recovered against the decedent had the decedent lived, except damages awardable under 20 Guam Code Ann. § 2120 (Exemplary Damages) or damages im- posed primarily for the sake of example and by way of punishing the defendant.

(c) When a person having a cause of action dies before judgment, the damages recoverable by the decedent’s personal representative are limited to such loss or damage as the decedent sustained or incurred prior to death, including any penalties or punitive or exemplary damages that the decedent would have been entitled to recover had the decedent lived, and shall not include damages for pain, suffering or disfigurement.

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15 Guam Code Ann. ESTATES AND PROBATE
CH. 22 POWERS AND DUTIES OF EXECUTORS, ADMINISTRATORS WITH THE WILL ANNEXED AND ADMINISTRATORS

(d) This Section is applicable where a loss or damage occurs simultaneously with or after the death of a person who would have been liable therefore if such person’s death had not preceded or occurred simultaneously with the loss or damage.

(e) Nothing in this Section shall be construed as making assignable things in action which are of such a nature as not to have been assignable prior to the enactment of this Section.

SOURCE: California Probate Code, § 573 (as amended).

COMMENT: Section 2209 represents a complete revision of § 573 of the Probate
Code of Guam (1970) (including, by necessary implication, the provisions of prior
§ 574, which Section has been eliminated.) It sets out, in broad terms, the rules for survival of actions of all kinds (except those actions related specifically to the
estate or its property, which are covered later in Chapter 22), and for the measure of
recovery in cases wherein the decedent was or would have been a party. Section
2209 contains subject matter which was previously contained in § 574 of the
Probate Code of Guam (1970), as well as in § 956 of the Civil Code of Guam (i.e., the material contained in subsection (d).) Thus, § 2209 is not a great departure from previous law; rather, it brings together various facets of prior law in a manner that is more sensible, and somewhat more general, than prior law.