Prob. Code, § 671 · Chapter 5. Effect of Failure to Make Effective Appointment
Prob. Code, § 671
Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
(a) Unless the creating instrument or the powerholder, in writing, manifests a contrary intent, where the powerholder dies without having exercised an imperative power of appointment either in whole or in part, the persons designated as permissible appointees take equally of the property not already appointed. Where the creating instrument establishes a minimum distribution requirement that is not satisfied by an equal division of the property not already appointed, the appointees who have received a partial appointment are required to return a pro rata portion of the property they would otherwise be entitled to receive in an amount sufficient to meet the minimum distribution requirement.
(b) Where an imperative power of appointment has been exercised defectively, either in whole or in part, its proper execution may be adjudged in favor of the person intended to be benefited by the defective exercise.
(c) Where an imperative power of appointment has been created so that it confers on a person a right to have the power exercised in the person’s favor, the proper exercise of the power can be compelled in favor of the person, or the person’s assigns, creditors, guardian, or conservator.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Amended by Stats. 2016, Ch. 81, Sec. 17. (AB 2846) Effective January 1, 2017.
Source of truth
- Edition
- As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
- Official file
- https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PROB§ionNum=671.
- Text hash
- sha256 b9f80157fa81190ba239bdc5dcf14e5920562861153d829bef45b96fa6f8b655
- Composed by
- compose_ca.py 2026-10-22: the Legislative Counsel's CAML content files read by a tokenizer (caml_readers.reader_a); an independent xml.etree reading (caml_readers.reader_b) agrees on every section
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.