Nathanson v. Superior Court

I dissent. The majority opinion holds that no document can qualify as a claim in probate — even as a defective claim whose defects can be cured by later amendment — unless it takes the form of a demand upon the probate estate and has a certain independent existence as a proceeding before the probate court. The controlling case law is to the contrary.

The leading case is United States Gypsum Co. v. Shaffer (1936) 7 Cal.2d 454 [60 P.2d 998]. Plaintiff obtained a judgment against Hart, who appealed and filed a bond to stay execution of judgment. Hart died pending the appeal, but defendants, his…