Rumsey

In this case we determine which statute of limitations governs an action by a collection agency against a surviving spouse for recovery of the hospital and medical expenses of a deceased spouse’s last illness.

Code of Civil Procedure former section 353 (Stats. 1990, ch. 140, § 1, p. 1172), applicable at all relevant times to this case, specified a one-year limitations period for surviving causes of action on the liabilities of decedents. 1 Subject to certain exceptions and limitations, Probate Code section 13550 prescribes the manner and extent to which a surviving spouse remains personally liable for the debts of a deceased spouse. Probate Code section 13554, as worded at all times relevant herein, clarified that these debts may be enforced against the surviving spouse in the same manner as they could have been enforced against the deceased spouse if he or she had not died, and are subject to the same “defense[s], cross-complaint[s] or setoff[s]” that would have been available to the deceased spouse if the deceased spouse had not died. Most importantly, subdivision (c) of Probate Code section 13554 expressly and specifically provided that the one-year limitations period…

The result the majority reaches in this case, by effectively shortening the period within which creditors may sue a surviving spouse on obligations incurred for necessaries of life, may be *314 desirable from a policy standpoint as contributing to prompt resolution of such claims and a sense of closure for parties who have suffered the loss of a spouse. Be that as it may, the policy choice the majority has effectuated is properly one for the Legislature alone to articulate, and—unlike the majority—I do not read the relevant statutes as doing so. Accordingly, I dissent.

The Court of Appeal in the present case correctly concluded Donald Rumsey was independently liable for the expenses of his wife’s hospitalization pursuant to Family Code section 914, and that the four-year statute of limitations for open book accounts governed such liability (Code Civ. Proc., § 337). As the majority acknowledges, Family Code section 914 addresses a married person’s liability for debts incurred during marriage. (Fam. Code, § 914, subd. (a).) Nothing in the statute suggests, nor does Mr. Rumsey even argue, that the liability so incurred somehow vanishes, or transmutes into a liability that is merely…

In this case we determine which statute of limitations governs an action by a collection agency against a surviving spouse for recovery of the hospital and medical expenses of a deceased spouse's last illness.

Code of Civil Procedure former section 353 (Stats.1990, ch. 140, § 1, p. 1172), applicable at all relevant times to this case, specified a one-year limitations period for surviving causes of action on the liabilities of decedents. [1] Subject to certain exceptions and limitations, Probate Code section 13550 prescribes the manner and extent to which a surviving spouse remains personally liable for the debts of a deceased spouse. Probate Code section 13554, as worded at all times relevant herein, clarified that these debts may be enforced against the surviving spouse in the same manner as they could have been enforced against the deceased spouse if he or she had not died, and are subject to the same "defense[s], cross-complaint[s] or setoff[s]" that would have been available to the deceased spouse if the deceased spouse had not died. Most importantly, subdivision (c) of Probate Code section 13554 expressly and specifically provided that the one-year limitations…