Oklahoma § 58-292 - Embezzlement before issue of letters - Civil liability Exemption for financial institutions with valid security interests

§ 58-292. Embezzlement before issue of letters - Civil liability Exemption for financial institutions with valid security interests

A. If any person, before the granting of letters testamentary

or of administration, embezzles or alienates any of the monies,

goods, chattel or effects of a decedent, the person is chargeable

therewith, and liable to an action by the executor or administrator

of the estate, for double the value of the property so embezzled or

alienated, to be recovered for the benefit of the estate.

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 58. Probate Procedure

B. This section, however, shall not apply to any financial

institution which has a valid security interest in the goods or

chattel of the decedent and which has commenced or is about to

commence repossession of the decedent’s goods and chattel after

default. The financial institution shall use diligent efforts to

notify the heirs and personal representative of the decedent, by

certified mail return receipt requested, of the repossession. The

notice to the heirs and personal representative shall contain the

amount of the debt secured by the goods or chattel as well as the

expenses reasonably incurred by the secured party in retaking,

holding and preparing the collateral for disposition, in arranging

for the sale, and, to the extent provided in the agreement and not

prohibited by law, their reasonable attorneys’ fees and legal

expenses. After receipt of the notice, the heirs and personal

representative shall have twenty (20) days to redeem the goods or

chattel by tendering to the secured party the full amount listed in

the notice. If there are no heirs and personal representative, or

if the notice to the heirs and personal representative by certified

mail is returned undelivered, then the secured party may dispose of

the repossessed goods or chattel as soon as practicable.

R.L.1910, § 6324. Amended by Laws 2001, c. 220, § 1, eff. Nov. 1,

2001.