Can an action be brought against the estate of a defendant who has died before the applicable statute of limitations has expired?

Under section 340, subdivision (3), an action for injury to one caused by the wrongful act or neglect of another must be brought within one year of the act causing injury. (See Petrucci v. Heidenreich (1941) 43 Cal.App.2d 561, 562, 111 P.2d 421.) However, where the person against whom the action may be brought dies before the expiration of the applicable statute of limitations, an action against the estate under Probate Code section 721 may be commenced within one year after the applicable statute has run. ( 353.) Thus, where the defendant has died, section 353 serves to extend the one-year limitation period of section 340, subdivision (3) by an additional year for an action against the estate under Probate Code section 721.