Beebe

DISCUSSION

At the time of trial, all of Deborah's claims against Richard were derivative claims

based on Deborah's allegations that Richard had unlawfully acquired real and personal

property which belonged to Julie. In general, the personal representative of a decedent's

estate has standing to pursue any claims which survived the decedent's death. Code of

Civil Procedure section 377.30 provides in pertinent part that an action on such surviving

claims "may be commenced by the decedent's personal representative or, if none, by the

decedent's successor in interest." (Italics added.)

Where there is no personal representative, Code of Civil Procedure sections

377.10 and 377.11 provide alternative standing to the successors in interest of a deceased

person. The standing provided by Code of Civil Procedure sections 377.10 and 377.11 is

limited to either all of the beneficiaries under a decedent's will or all of the decedent's

heirs under Probate Code sections 6401 and 6402. (Code Civ. Proc., §§ 377.10 &

377.11.)1 As the trial court noted, if Deborah was successful in having Richard deemed

to have predeceased his mother under Probate…