Limitations on Presentation of Claims

Limitations on Presentation of Claims. (a) All claims against a decedent’s estate which arose before the death of the decedent, including claims of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and any of its subdivisions, whether due or to become due, absolute or contingent, liquidated or unliquidated, founded on contract, tort, or other legal basis, if not barred earlier by other statute of limitations, are barred against the estate, the personal representative, and the heirs and devisees of the decedent, unless presented as follows: (1) Within 60 days after the date of the first publication of notice to creditors if notice is given in compliance with the Commonwealth Trial Court Rules of Probate Procedure; provided, claims barred by the nonclaim statute at the decedent’s domicile before the first publication for claims in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands are also barred in the Commonwealth. (2) Within three years after the decedent’s death, if notice to creditors has not been published. (b) All claims against a decedent’s estate which arise at or after the death of the decedent, including claims of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and any of its subdivisions, whether due or to become due, absolute or contingent, liquidated or unliquidated, founded on contract, tort, or other legal basis, are barred against the estate, the personal representative, and the heirs and devisees of the decedent, unless presented as follows: (1) A claim based on a contract with the personal representative, within 60 days after performance by the personal representative is due; (2) Any other claim, within 60 days after it arises. (c) Nothing in this section affects or prevents: (1) Any proceeding to enforce any mortgage, pledge, or other lien upon property of the estate; or (2) To the limits of the insurance protection only, any proceeding to establish liability of the decedent or the personal representative for which he is protected by liability insurance. Source: PL 3-106, ch. 10, § 3. Commission Comment: Section 4 of PL 6-25, the “Commonwealth Judicial Reorganization Act of 1989,” provides that “[w]herever the term ‘Commonwealth Trial Court’ appears in the Commonwealth Code, it is henceforth to be interpreted and understood to refer to the Commonwealth Superior Court.”