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Terms Used In 15 Guam Code Ann. § 2521

  • Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Decedent: A deceased person.
  • Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
  • Probate: Proving a will
  • Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
  • Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
) Except as provided in subsections (b) and (c) of this Section, the following claims must be filed or presented within the time limited in the notice required by Section 2503 of this Title or as extended by the provi- sions of Sections 2507 and 2527 of this Title:
(1) All claims arising upon contract, whether they are due, not due, or contingent;

(2) All claims for funeral expenses; and
(3) All claims for damages for injuries against the personal representative of any decedent who in his lifetime has wasted, destroyed, taken or carried away or converted to his own use, the property of another person or committed any trespass on the real property of another person.

Any such claim not so filed or presented is barred forever, unless it is made to appear by the affidavit of the claimant to the satisfaction of the Superior Court that the claimant had not received notice, by reason of being physically absent from the territory of Guam, in which event it may be filed or presented at any time before final distribution has been ordered; provided, that neither the filing nor the presentation of such claim, nor its later establishment, in whole or in part, shall make property distributed pursuant to an order of the Superior Court or any payments properly made before filing or presentation of such claim subject to such claim; and provided further, that the provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to any creditor who was mailed a copy of the notice to creditors by the personal representative, as provided in Section 2503(b) or Section 2503(c) of this Title. The Clerk of the Superior Court must enter in the permanent records of the Superior Court every claim filed, giving the name of the claimant, the amount and character of the claim, the rate of interest, if any, and the date of filing.

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15 Guam Code Ann. ESTATES AND PROBATE
CH. 25 PRESENTATION AND PAYMENT OF CLAIMS AGAINST THE ESTATE

(b) All claims by the Government of Guam or by any agency or instrumentality of the Government of Guam must be filed or presented within the time limited in the notice required by Section 2503 of this Title or as extended by the provisions of Sections 2507 and 2527 of this Title. For the purposes of this subsection, a claim includes, but is not limited to, a claim for the payment of taxes, but this subsection shall not apply to claims for property taxes, special assessments, assessments, gift taxes or inheritance taxes. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to affect the order of priorities of claims provided for under other provisions of law. This subsection shall not apply to liability for the restitution of amounts illegally acquired through the means of any fraudulent, false, or incorrect claim or representation, or any forged or unauthorized endorsement.

(c) If a claim for damages for injuries to, or death of, a person, for which no action specified in subsection (a) of this Section was pending at the time of the decedent’s death, is not filed within the time limited in the notice required by Section 2503 of this Title or as extended by the provisions of Sections 2507 and 2527 of this Title, the Superior Court, upon application of the claimant made not later than one (1) year after accrual of the claimant’s cause of action, and upon such notice and hearing, if any, as the Superior Court may order, shall permit the filing of the claim and, if required, appoint or reappoint a personal representative. Neither the filing of the claim pursuant to this subsection nor its later establishment, in whole or in part, shall make property distributed pursuant to an order of the Superior Court or any payments properly made before notice of such application subject to the claim. The personal representative, distributee or payee shall not be liable on account of such prior distribution or payment. The Superior Court shall impose reasonable conditions upon the filing of the claim in order to avoid unequal treatment between the heirs, devisees, legatees, or creditors of the estate. This subsection shall not be applicable to claims of the Government of Guam or of any agency or instrumentality thereof under subsection (b) of this Section.

SOURCE: Subsection (a): California Probate Code, § 707(a) (as amended through
1971); Guam Law Revision Commission. Subsection (b): California Probate Code,
§ 707.5, excluding subsection (b) thereof. Subsection (c): California Probate Code,
§ 720 (as amended).

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15 Guam Code Ann. ESTATES AND PROBATE
CH. 25 PRESENTATION AND PAYMENT OF CLAIMS AGAINST THE ESTATE

COMMENT: The only change that the Commission has made to the California law is the addition, in subsection (a), of reference back to subsections (b) and (c) of
§ 2503, supra.