Can a complaint be amended to substitute an administrator as a real party in interest?

In Klopstock v. Superior Court (1941) 17 Cal.2d 13, 108 P.2d 906, a complaint was amended to substitute the newly appointed administratrix as the real party in interest. The defendant moved to dismiss, contending the amendment was "the institution of an entirely new suit on a different cause of action." (Id. at p. 16, 108 P.2d 906.) The high court rejected this contention, finding the amendment permissible under the liberal discretion accorded trial courts by Code of Civil Procedure section 473. (Id. at p. 21, 108 P.2d 906.) The amendment did not constitute a new suit; defendants were apprised from the filing of the original suit of the facts relied upon and were in no way surprised or prejudiced in their defense. (Ibid.) Further, amendments to substitute in a real party in interest have been permitted even after the

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