BILL NUMBER: SB 1302 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 21, 2014
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 2, 2014
INTRODUCED BY Senator Wyland
FEBRUARY 21, 2014
An act to add Section 15657.4 to the Welfare and
Institutions Code, amend Section 259 of the Probate
Code, relating to elder abuse.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1302, as amended, Wyland. Elder financial
abuse.
Existing law imposes restrictions upon a person's or beneficiary's
entitlement to the estate of a decedent who was an elder or
dependent adult if the person or beneficiary has committed certain
acts against the decedent, including, but not limited to, physical
abuse, neglect, or financial abuse.
This bill would recast those provisions to instead provide that a
person shall be deemed to have predeceased a decedent if he or she is
liable for physical abuse, neglect, or financial abuse of the
decedent pursuant to the Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil
Protection Act, or if that person has been convicted of a violation
of provisions prohibiting willfully causing or permitting any elder
or dependent adult to suffer, or inflicting thereon unjustifiable
physical pain or mental suffering, or having the care or custody of
any elder or dependent adult, willfully causing or permitting the
person or health of the elder or dependent adult to be injured, or
willfully causing or permitting the elder or dependent adult to be
placed in a situation in which his or her person or health is
endangered, as specified, in which the decedent was the victim. The
bill would provide that any person who is deemed to have predeceased
the decedent shall not receive any property, damages, or costs that
are awarded to the decedent's estate whether that person's
entitlement is under a will, a trust, or the laws of intestacy, nor
serve as a fiduciary on behalf of the decedent's estate or trust.
The Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act
authorizes compensatory damages and other relief for an elder or
dependent adult who suffers financial abuse. The act defines
financial abuse as, among other actions, taking, secreting,
appropriating, obtaining, or retaining real or personal property of
an elder or dependent adult for a wrongful use or with intent to
defraud, or both.
This bill would require a court to notify the district attorney in
the relevant jurisdiction of a civil judgment or settlement based on
a violation of any state elder financial abuse law.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes
no . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 259 of the Probate
Code is amended to read:
259. (a) Any person shall be deemed to have predeceased a
decedent to the extent provided in subdivision (c) where
(b) if all of the following apply:
(1) It has been proven by clear and convincing evidence that the
person is liable for physical abuse, neglect, or financial abuse of
the decedent, who was an elder or dependent adult.
(2) The person is found to have acted in bad faith.
(3) The person has been found to have been reckless, oppressive,
fraudulent, or malicious in the commission of any of these acts upon
the decedent.
(4) The decedent, at the time those acts occurred and thereafter
until the time of his or her death, has been found to have been
substantially unable to manage his or her financial resources or to
resist fraud or undue influence.
(1) The person is liable for physical abuse, neglect, or financial
abuse of the decedent pursuant to the Elder Abuse and Dependent
Adult Civil Protection Act (Chapter 11 (commencing with Section
15600) of Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code).
(2) The person has been convicted of a violation of Section 368 of
the Penal Code in which the decedent was the victim.
(b) Any person shall be deemed to have
predeceased a decedent to the extent provided in subdivision
if that person has been convicted of a violation of Section 236 of
the Penal Code or any offense described in Section 368 of the Penal
Code. (a) shall not do either of the following:
(c) Any person found liable under subdivision (a) or convicted
under subdivision (b) shall not (1) receive
(1) Receive any property, damages, or costs
that are awarded to the decedent's estate in an action
described in subdivision (a) or (b), whether that person's
entitlement is under a will, a trust, or the laws of
intestacy; or (2)serve as a fiduciary as defined in Section 39, if
the instrument nominating or appointing that person was executed
during the period when the decedent was substantially unable to
manage his or her financial resources or resist fraud or undue
influence. This section shall not apply to a decedent who, at any
time following the act or acts described in paragraph (1) of
subdivision (a), or the act or acts described in subdivision (b), was
substantially able to manage his or her financial resources and to
resist fraud or undue influence within the meaning of subdivision (b)
of Section 1801 of the Probate Code and subdivision (b) of Section
39 of the Civil Code. intestacy.
(2) Serve as a fiduciary on behalf of the decedent's estate or
trust.
(d)
(c) For purposes of this section, the following
definitions shall apply:
(1) "Physical abuse" has the same meaning as defined in
Section 15610.63 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(2) "Neglect" has the same meaning as defined in
Section 15610.57 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(3) "False imprisonment" as defined in Section 368 of the Penal
Code.
(4)
(3) "Financial abuse" has the same meaning
as defined in Section 15610.30 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(e)
(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to
prohibit the severance and transfer of an action or proceeding to a
separate civil action pursuant to Section 801.
SECTION 1. Section 15657.4 is added to the
Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:
15657.4. The court shall notify the district attorney of the
relevant jurisdiction of a civil judgment or settlement based on a
violation of any state elder financial abuse law.