Anderson v. Breeden

Summary

The California Court of Appeal held that a petition to admit a holographic will was untimely under Probate Code section 8226, subdivision (c). The statute required the administrator to file within the later of 120 days after the intestacy determination or 60 days after obtaining knowledge of the will. Because the petition was filed after both applicable deadlines, the court affirmed the denial of probate.

Holdings

1. Probate Code section 8226, subdivision (c), applies even when the proponent seeks to probate only one will after the court has determined that the decedent died intestate. The statute’s filing deadlines are not limited to proceedings involving successive wills.
2. Anderson’s petition was untimely because it was filed after both applicable deadlines: 60 days after she discovered the will and 120 days after the probate court determined that Earley died intestate.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Probate Code section 8226, subdivision (c), imposes filing deadlines when a petition to admit a single will to probate is filed after the probate court has determined that the decedent died intestate.
2. Whether Anderson’s petition to admit Earley’s holographic will was timely under the later-of-120-days-after-the-intestacy-determination or-60-days-after-discovery deadlines in section 8226, subdivision (c).

Disposition

affirmed