Probate Code § 850 Petition: Full Scope in California

Probate Code § 850 Petition: Full Scope in California

Probate Code section 850 lets a trustee, personal representative, or other interested person ask the probate court to decide who actually owns property when legal title doesn’t match where the property should belong. Most people who search for this statute have already heard the name Heggstad and assume it’s only about a house left out of a trust. It’s much broader than that. Section 850 also reaches bank accounts, business interests, property a decedent was holding for someone else, and disputes between two separate trusts.

If your situation doesn’t look like the classic “house was never deeded to the trust” story, that doesn’t mean section 850 doesn’t apply. It probably means you’re in a different corner of the same statute.

Every situation section 850 was built to reach

The statute authorizes the probate court to resolve ownership questions in five general fact patterns, all without forcing a separate civil lawsuit alongside the probate or trust proceeding already open.

Property that should be in a trust but isn’t

This is the Heggstad scenario: a trust names an asset in its schedule, but the deed or account title was never actually changed to match. The petition asks the court to confirm the property is already trust property based on the decedent’s documented intent.

Property held by a decedent that belongs to someone else

Sometimes a decedent was holding title to something, an account, a piece of real estate, that actually belonged to another person or entity the whole time. Maybe it was a convenience arrangement, maybe a mistake in how title was taken. Section 850 lets the true owner petition to get it back without filing a standalone lawsuit against the estate.

Property claimed by the estate but held by a third party

The mirror image: the estate or trust believes someone else is holding an asset that should have been part of the decedent’s property. A personal representative or trustee can petition to recover it, whether that’s a family member who took control of an account, a business partner holding assets that should have transferred at death, or anyone else sitting on property that belongs in the estate.

Disputes between a trust and a probate estate

It’s common for someone to die leaving both a trust and a smaller probate estate for whatever didn’t get transferred in. When there’s disagreement about which one actually owns a specific asset, section 850 gives both sides one proceeding to sort it out instead of two parallel cases in front of two different judges.

Trust-to-trust disputes

Two trusts, sometimes created by different family members, can end up disputing ownership of the same property, a jointly purchased vacation home is the classic example. Section 850 provides the forum for one trust to petition against the other’s trustee to resolve who actually owns it.

Real fact patterns that trigger a § 850 petition

A parent adds a child’s name to a bank account for convenience before death. After the parent dies, the other siblings argue the account should have been split among everyone through the estate or trust, not kept entirely by the one child whose name happened to be on it. A trustee discovers a business interest, an LLC membership or a stake in the family company, still titled in the decedent’s individual name years after the trust document listed it as a trust asset. Two siblings, each serving as trustee for a different parent’s trust, disagree over which trust actually owns a property the two families bought together decades ago. Every one of these gets resolved through a section 850 petition rather than a freestanding lawsuit.

How the petition process actually works

The petition has to identify the disputed property clearly, state the petitioner’s interest in it, and lay out the facts supporting the ownership claim. It’s filed in the county with jurisdiction over the estate or trust already open. Anyone with an interest in the property, including whoever currently holds title or possession, gets formal notice and a chance to respond.

Probate Code section 855 governs how the petition proceeds once filed, and section 856 covers the court’s resulting order. If nobody contests the petition and the documentary evidence is solid, a lot of these resolve on the papers, with a hearing that functions more as confirmation than combat. If someone does contest it, particularly in the business interest or third-party recovery scenarios, the matter can proceed like a full civil trial, with discovery, depositions, and a judge or jury deciding the ownership question on the merits.

Section 850 vs. a Heggstad petition, side by side

What to gather before you file

Regardless of which corner of section 850 your situation fits, the documents that matter are largely the same: the trust or estate documents, any deeds, account records, or title documents showing current ownership, and anything in writing showing what the decedent actually intended, correspondence, prior account statements, business formation documents. Whether the petition resolves quickly or turns into a contested hearing depends heavily on how clear that evidence is before you ever file.

Who can file, and who has to be named

The petitioner is usually a trustee or personal representative, but the statute also allows other interested persons, a beneficiary, an heir, or the true owner in a third-party dispute, to bring the petition when the fiduciary won’t or can’t. Everyone with a potential interest in the outcome has to be named and given formal notice, including whoever currently holds the disputed property. This is not optional. A petition that leaves out an interested party can be set aside later for lack of notice, which undoes months of work and forces a refiling.

In trust-to-trust disputes, both trustees typically appear, sometimes represented by different attorneys, and the case proceeds much like litigation between two parties even before anyone files a formal objection. In recovery cases against a third party who isn’t otherwise part of the estate or trust, that third party has the same right to defend themselves as they would in an ordinary civil lawsuit, including the right to a jury trial on disputed factual questions in some circumstances.

What courts actually look at when deciding ownership

Regardless of which fact pattern applies, judges deciding a section 850 petition are ultimately answering one question: what does the evidence show about who was actually supposed to own this property. That means the trust or estate documents, but also conduct: who paid the taxes and insurance on a property, who reported income from an account on their tax return, who had access to and used an asset day to day. Documentary intent evidence carries the most weight, but courts do look at the full picture when the paper trail alone doesn’t resolve the question cleanly.

The honest caveat

Section 850 gives the probate court a forum built for these disputes. It doesn’t guarantee you win, and it doesn’t turn a weak ownership claim into a strong one. If the facts are genuinely disputed and nobody has documentary support, expect a contested proceeding closer to civil litigation than a quick confirmation, with the time and cost that comes with it.

Talk to a real California estate attorney

If you’re facing an ownership dispute tied to a trust or estate, whether it’s a house, an account, or a business interest, I’ll review what you have and tell you plainly which part of section 850 applies and what your realistic path looks like.

Talk to Eric Ridley is a free 60-minute consultation by phone or Zoom, anywhere in California. Or call (805) 244-5291.

Related reading: Heggstad petition process, evidence, and timeline · The house was never put in the trust, now what · The complete guide to trust administration in California

Frequently asked questions

What does Probate Code section 850 actually cover?

It lets a trustee, personal representative, or interested person ask the probate court to resolve who owns property when title doesn’t match where it should belong, including assets left out of a trust, property held for someone else, and disputes between two trusts.

Is a Heggstad petition the same as a section 850 petition?

Every Heggstad petition is a section 850 petition, but not every section 850 petition is a Heggstad petition. Heggstad is the specific theory about trust documents naming an asset. Section 850 also covers business interests, accounts, and trust-to-trust disputes.

Can a section 850 petition recover a bank account a sibling took over?

Often yes. If an account was titled to one heir for convenience before death, section 850 lets the personal representative or trustee ask the court to resolve true ownership without a separate lawsuit.

How long does a contested section 850 petition take?

Uncontested petitions with clear documentation often resolve in a few months. Contested petitions proceed like a civil trial and can take a year or more.

This is general information about California law, not legal advice for your situation.