Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

I don't have the statutes for the executor's authority at hand, but if the estate has closed, the debt should have been an asset transferred to the estate's beneficiaries. The statute of limitations that would apply should be the same that applied before he died, so check the statute for the type of debt. Most statutes for debts in California are two or four years, so I suspect she (or the estate beneficiaries) have run out of time.

So long as the action is one that survives death, the representative may commence the action on behalf of the decedent any time before the later of six months after the decedent's death or within the limitations period that would have been applicable had the person not died. (Code Civ. Proc., sect. 366.1)

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=ccp&group=00001-01000&file=366.1-366.3

Debts owed a person become assets of the estate. They must be distributed when the estate closes, but then they become payable to whomever of the heirs or beneficiaries the debts are given. That may well be the same person as the executor but they are no longer acting as the executor at that point. They are collecting on their own behalf. As the others said, however, if the debt is more than 4 years old and you have not been making payments within the last four years (two if it is not a debt supported by a written agreement) , it doesn't matter who owns it.