15 Guam Code Ann. § 3017
Terms Used In 15 Guam Code Ann. § 3017
- Decedent: A deceased person.
- Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
- Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Legatee: A beneficiary of a decedent
- Personal property: All property that is not real property.
- Probate: Proving a will
- Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
SOURCE: California Probate Code, § 1023 (as amended through 1943).
§ 3019. Final Distribution: Distribution to Territory of Guam; Procedure; Claims; Time; Undistributed Portion.
(a) If the Superior Court, at the time set for the hearing of the final account, or such time thereafter to which the matter might be continued, does not order final distribution of the entire balance of the estate remaining for distribution to known heirs, devisees or legatees entitled to succeed thereto, it must distribute to the territory of Guam that portion of the estate not distributed to such known heirs, devisees or legatees. Insofar as practical, any real property or tangible personal property so distributed shall be converted to money prior to transmittal to the Clerk of the Superior Court pursuant to the provisions of subsection (c) of this Section.
(b) If the Superior Court distributes the estate or any portion thereof to the territory of Guam pursuant to the provisions of subsection (a) of this Section, and the distributing clause contains words otherwise creating a trust in favor of certain unknown or unidentified persons as a class, such distribution shall vest in the territory of Guam both legal and equitable title to the property so distributed; saving, however, the right of claimants to appear and claim the estate or any portion thereof pursuant to the provisions of subsection (e) of this Section.
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(c) Upon the rendition of a final decree of distribution, any money distributed to the territory of Guam pursuant to the provisions of subsection (a) of this Section, and all other personal property so distributed, shall be delivered forthwith to the Clerk of the Superior Court. The Clerk of the Superior Court shall thereupon immediately deposit all money so distributed in an interest-bearing account in a bank or other savings institution authorized to business in the territory of Guam, and shall hold and safeguard all other personal property so distributed. If the final decree of distribution distributes any real property to the territory of Guam pursuant to the provisions of subsection (a) of this Section, the personal representative shall immediately cause a certified copy of such decree to be recorded in the Department of Land Management of the Government of Guam, and shall thereupon transmit to the Clerk of the Superior Court a verified certificate that he has complied with the provisions of this subsection as to such recordation.
(d) All property distributed to the territory of Guam pursuant to the provisions of subsection (a) of this Section shall be held for a period of five (5) years from the date of the decree or order making such distribution, within which time any person may claim such property or any part thereof in the manner provided in subsection (e) of this Section. Any person who does not appear and claim within such period as provided in subsection (e) of this Section, shall be forever barred, and such property, or so much thereof as is not claimed, shall upon the expiration of such period vest absolutely in the territory of Guam. Upon the expiration of such period, such property, or so much thereof as has not been claimed, shall be transferred to the territory of Guam as follows:
(1) The Clerk of the Superior Court shall transmit to the Treasurer of Guam money deposited in a bank or other savings institution and personal property held by the Clerk of the Superior Court pursuant to the provisions of subsection (c) of this Section, to- gether with a certified copy of the decree or order distributing such property to the territory of Guam and a certificate setting forth that such property has vested absolutely in the territory of Guam pursuant to the provisions of this Section.
(2) The Clerk of the Superior Court shall transmit to the Department of Land Management of the Government of Guam a certificate setting forth that real property distributed to the territory of Guam pursuant to the provisions of subsection (a) of this Section
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has vested absolutely in the territory of Guam, whereupon the Department of Land Management of the Government of Guam shall take such steps as are necessary to effect the transfer of such real property to the territory of Guam.
(e) Within the period referred to in subsection (d) of this Section, any person may claim property which has been distributed to the territory of Guam pursuant to the provisions of subsection (a) of this Section, or any part thereof, by filing in the Superior Court a verified petition setting forth that he is entitled to such property or any part thereof, and the basis of his claim or entitlement to such property of part thereof. The Clerk of the Superior Court shall set such petition for hearing, and notice thereof shall be given in the manner provided in Section 3401 of this Title. The petitioner shall also cause a copy of the notice of such hearing to be served upon the Office of the Attorney General of the territory of Guam, such service to be effected at least ten (10) calendar days before the date of such hearing.
(f) If, at the hearing referred to in subsection (e) of this Section, the Superior Court is satisfied upon a preponderance of the evidence legally presented that the claimant is entitled to property distributed to the territory of Guam pursuant to the provisions of subsection (a) of this Section, or any part thereof, the Superior Court shall order that such property or part thereof be distributed to such claimant. If the property so distributed is money deposited in a bank or other savings institution, or personal property held by the Clerk of the Superior Court pursuant to the provisions of subsection (c) of this Section, the Clerk of the Superior Court shall immediately cause the property so distributed to be transmitted to the claimant. If the property so distributed is real property, the Clerk of the Superior Court shall immediately transmit to the Department of Land Management of the Government of Guam a certified copy of the order or decree distributing such property to the claimant, whereupon the Department of Land Management of the Government of Guam shall take such steps as are necessary to effect the transfer of such real property to the claimant.
SOURCE: California Probate Code, §§ 1027, 1028; Guam Law Revision
Commission.
COMMENT: The underlying basis of § 3019 is § 1027 of the California Probate Code, which was added to the California Probate Code in 1933 and amended numerous times since. The second sentence of subsection (c) is derived from
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California Probate Code § 1028, and the provisions of subsections (d) through (f), inclusive, have been drafted by the Commission.