Cal. PROB § 13552
This is the official text of Cal. PROB § 13552, part of California’s Probate Code — governs wills, trusts, estates, and conservatorships.
Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.
Official statutory text
If proceedings are commenced in this state for the administration of the estate of the deceased spouse and the time for filing claims has commenced, any action upon the liability of the surviving spouse pursuant to Section 13550 is barred to the same extent as provided for claims under Part 4 (commencing with Section 9000) of Division 7, except as to the following:
(a) Creditors who commence judicial proceedings for the enforcement of the debt and serve the surviving spouse with the complaint therein prior to the expiration of the time for filing claims.
(b) Creditors who have or who secure the surviving spouse’s acknowledgment in writing of the liability of the surviving spouse for the debts.
(c) Creditors who file a timely claim in the proceedings for the administration of the estate of the deceased spouse.
(a) Creditors who commence judicial proceedings for the enforcement of the debt and serve the surviving spouse with the complaint therein prior to the expiration of the time for filing claims.
(b) Creditors who have or who secure the surviving spouse’s acknowledgment in writing of the liability of the surviving spouse for the debts.
(c) Creditors who file a timely claim in the proceedings for the administration of the estate of the deceased spouse.
Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site
Dealing with a probate matter in California?
See all California Probate lawyers
About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the
Open US Law dataset
(Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine
(Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.