15 Guam Code Ann. § 821
Terms Used In 15 Guam Code Ann. § 821
- Decedent: A deceased person.
- Devise: To gift property by will.
- Probate: Proving a will
- Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
- Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
- Statute of limitations: A law that sets the time within which parties must take action to enforce their rights.
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15 Guam Code Ann. ESTATES AND PROBATE
CH. 8 SUCCESSION & SECURITIES TRANSFER
The rights of a purchaser of encumbrancer of real property, in good faith and for value, derived from any person claiming the same by succession, are not impaired by any devise made by the decedent from whom succession is claimed, unless within four (4) years after the devisor’s death the instrument containing such devise is duly proved as a will, or written notice of such devise is recorded with the Department of Land Management of the Government of Guam. This Section does not limit the finality of any decree of distribution in the estate of the decedent.
SOURCE: California Probate Code, § 322 (as amended).
COMMENT: The purpose of this rather obscure Section — which, in its California version, has virtually no decisional law interpreting it — appears to be to protect the rights of bona fide purchasers and encumbrancers of real property in the context of probate cases. If X, who claims to have received real property by succession from Y, sells that real property to B (a bona fide purchaser,) the fact that Y may have devised the same real property to some person other than X does not cloud B’s title to the property, unless Y’s will (which contains the alleged devise) is “duly proved as a will” within four years after Y’s death, or unless a notice of the alleged devise is filed with the Department of Land Management within that four-year period. In short, § 821 operates as a sort of statute of limitations, reflecting the four-year statute of limitations on actions not otherwise provided for in the Code of Civil Procedure.
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ARTICLE 2
UNIFORM TRANSFER ON DEATH SECURITY REGISTRATION ACT
2014 NOTE: This Article was added by P.L. 25-032:2 (June 4, 1999) as
Chapter 8 of Division 2, Title 15 Guam Code Ann., and repealed and reenacted by P.L.
25-060:2 (June 30, 1999). The previous Compiler renumbered the sections and codified it Subchapter B of Chapter 8. To adhere to the Compiler’s general codification scheme, it is now designated as an Article, rather than a Chapter or Subchapter.