republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20112012/ab-1985.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Trusts and estates: construction of instruments."
description: "Existing law provides rules for the interpretation of wills, trusts, deeds, and other instruments, which are to be used as interpretive aids if the intention of the transferor is not indicated by the instrument. Under existing law, if after the execution of the instrument of gift, specifically given property is sold, or mortgaged by a conservator or by an agent acting within the authority of a durable power of attorney for an incapacitated principal, the transferee of the specific gift has the right to a general pecuniary gift equal to the net sale price of, or the amount of the unpaid loan encumbrance on, the property."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20112012"
identifier: "AB 1985"
citation: "California AB 1985 (20112012)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Trusts and estates: construction of instruments."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Silva"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 20
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2012-02-23"
last_action: "2012-08-27"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/70474f13-0853-44d3-9180-281c86910bf8"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201120120AB1985"
source_hash: "7d7e2a24a6374755601b76fb258be65786ebfb7745aa4313e9b94438de8cecb5"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ca"]
---

# California AB 1985 (20112012) — Trusts and estates: construction of instruments.

Existing law provides rules for the interpretation of wills, trusts, deeds, and other instruments, which are to be used as interpretive aids if the intention of the transferor is not indicated by the instrument. Under existing law, if after the execution of the instrument of gift, specifically given property is sold, or mortgaged by a conservator or by an agent acting within the authority of a durable power of attorney for an incapacitated principal, the transferee of the specific gift has the right to a general pecuniary gift equal to the net sale price of, or the amount of the unpaid loan encumbrance on, the property.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **02/23/12 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120AB1985&version=20110AB198599INT)
2. **04/09/12 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120AB1985&version=20110AB198598AMD)
3. **06/15/12 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120AB1985&version=20110AB198597AMD)
4. **08/27/12 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120AB1985&version=20110AB198595CHP)
5. **AB1985** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201120120AB1985)
6. **08/13/12 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120AB1985&version=20110AB198596ENR)

## Votes

- Consent Calendar 2nd — **36–0** (pass) · upper
- AB 1985 SILVA Concurrence in Senate Amendments — **77–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass and be placed on the Consent Calendar. — **4–0** (pass) · upper
- AB 1985 SILVA Consent Calendar Second Day — **77–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass, to Consent Calendar. — **10–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Silva — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2012-02-23** Read first time. To print. `reading-1`
- **2012-02-24** From printer. May be heard in committee March 25.
- **2012-03-08** Referred to Com. on JUD. `referral-committee`
- **2012-04-09** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on JUD. Read second time and amended. `reading-2, amendment-introduction, reading-1, amendment-passage`
- **2012-04-09** Re-referred to Com. on JUD. `referral-committee`
- **2012-04-10** From committee: Do pass. To consent calendar. (Ayes 10. Noes 0.) (April 10). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2012-04-11** Read second time. Ordered to consent calendar. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2012-04-16** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 77. Noes 0. Page 4374.) `reading-3, reading-1, passage`
- **2012-04-16** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2012-04-26** Referred to Com. on JUD. `referral-committee`
- **2012-06-11** In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author.
- **2012-06-15** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on JUD. `reading-2, amendment-introduction, reading-1, amendment-passage, referral-committee`
- **2012-06-27** From committee: Do pass. To consent calendar. (Ayes 4. Noes 0.) (June 26). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2012-06-28** Read second time. Ordered to consent calendar. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2012-07-05** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 36. Noes 0. Page 4286.). `reading-3, reading-1, passage`
- **2012-07-05** In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending. May be considered on or after August 3 pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.
- **2012-08-09** Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 77. Noes 0. Page 5836.). `committee-passage-favorable, amendment-passage`
- **2012-08-15** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3:10 p.m.
- **2012-08-27** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2012-08-27** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 195, Statutes of 2012.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/70474f13-0853-44d3-9180-281c86910bf8`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).