1999 Bar: What is the effect of the death of a party upon a pending action? (2%)

When the claim in a pending action is purely personal, the death of either of the parties extinguishes the claims and the action shall be dismissed. When the claim is not purely personal and is not thereby extinguished, the party should be substituted by his heirs or his executor or administrator (Sec. 16, Rule 3).
If the action is for recovery of money arising from contract express or implied, and the defendant dies before entry of judgment in the court in which the action was pending at the time of such death, it shall not be dismissed but shall instead be allowed to continue until entry of final judgment. A favorable judgment obtained by the plaintiff shall be enforced in the manner provided in the rules of prosecuting claims against the estate of a deceased person (Sec. 20, Rule 3).