Curry

Audrey Belle Curry, deposed administratrix of the estate of her deceased husband, Virgil Curry, appeals an order of the probate court surcharging her with *503 $119,954 for the disappearance of assets of the estate during her administration.

The estate’s primary asset was a furniture business. A court order authorized appellant to operate the business until May 1965, but she continued to operate the business until it became insolvent in December 1966. In June 1967 she was removed as administratrix and ordered to file an accounting. Her accoupting was objected to by the successor administrator, and on a trial of the issues she was surcharged for assets which disappeared during her administration.

Appellant contends the amount of the surcharge was erroneous, because she was the beneficiary of her husband’s estate and recoveries from beneficiaries are limited to amounts' needed to pay the debts or legacies of the estate. Probate Code .section 581 declares that the administrator of a decedent’s estate may recover “. . . property of the estate from any heir who has succeeded to the property in his possession, or from any devisee or legatee to whom the property has been devised br…