Probate Attorney in West Hills

Probate Attorney in West Hills

West Hills has an unusual number of households where three generations live within a few miles of each other, and estates here regularly include grandchildren. That introduces a problem most families have never considered.

A minor cannot receive an inheritance

If a will leaves a share to a grandchild who is under 18, or a beneficiary designation names a minor, the money cannot simply be handed over. A minor lacks legal capacity to receive and manage it.

What happens instead is a second court process on top of the probate. Depending on the amount, that can mean a guardianship of the estate, with a court-appointed guardian filing inventories and accountings until the child turns 18, or a blocked account that nobody can touch without a court order.

Then on the child’s eighteenth birthday, whatever is left is handed over outright. Most parents, asked directly, do not want a large sum going to an eighteen-year-old with no conditions. But that is the default the law supplies when nothing else was arranged.

This is entirely avoidable with planning, which is why it is worth raising even in a probate that is already underway. If there are younger siblings or cousins in the same family, the same problem is coming for them.

Where the money came from matters

The most common route to this is not a will. It is a beneficiary designation on a retirement account or a life insurance policy naming a grandchild directly, usually set up by a grandparent who wanted to be generous and did not know the consequence.

Those assets pass outside the estate entirely, so the probate does not control them, and the insurer or plan administrator will not pay a minor. The family ends up in a guardianship proceeding for an asset that never went through probate at all.

The ordinary parts

Everything else about a West Hills probate is standard for Los Angeles County. It is filed and heard downtown at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse, 111 N. Hill Street, there is no Valley probate court, and the calendar is shared with the whole county. Plan on twelve to eighteen months.

Most of it does not require the family in a courtroom. I handle the filings, and the work happens by phone and video.

The probate math on a typical 91307 home

Zillow puts the typical home in ZIP 91307 at $985,165 (Zillow Home Value Index, August 2026). Prob. Code § 10800 allows the personal representative a percentage of the estate’s value, and § 10810 allows the attorney the same schedule. Each figure below is for an estate made up of only this house.

Slice of the value	Rate	Allowed to each
First $100,000	4%	$4,000
Next $100,000	3%	$3,000
Remaining $785,165	2%	$15,703
Each		$22,703
Both together		$45,406

The value is the inventory appraisal without reference to encumbrances, so a mortgage doesn’t shrink it. Most estates run larger than one house, and the court sets the final number. See what probate costs for the other charges.

Can a West Hills house skip full probate?

Only if it fits under a ceiling, and the typical value doesn’t.

Route	Ceiling	Typical 91307 home
Small estate affidavit, § 13100	$208,850	Over by $776,315
Primary residence petition, § 13151, form DE-310	$750,000	Over by $235,165

The § 13151 petition requires that 40 days have passed since the death and that the gross value of the primary residence not exceed $750,000. Value at death is what counts, so a house that’s worth less than $750,000 on the date of death may still qualify. The two routes don’t stack: § 13100 excludes any property included in a petition filed under § 13151. So a family that files the residence petition may still use the affidavit for the bank account, if what’s left is under the limit. That only helps if the house itself is under the ceiling. See small estate for the rest of the tests.

Getting the house out of the estate: what gets recorded

In a probate, the personal representative files a change in ownership statement with the county recorder or assessor before or when the inventory and appraisal is filed with the court clerk (Rev. & Tax. Code § 480(b)). For a West Hills house that’s a Los Angeles County filing. When the court orders distribution to an heir, the order is recorded with the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk in Norwalk. A deed or writing that transfers realty by reason of the death of any person is exempt from documentary transfer tax (Rev. & Tax. Code § 11930).

The court’s filing page lists two probate clerk’s offices, the Stanley Mosk Courthouse and the Antelope Valley Courthouse in Lancaster. West Hills is filed at Stanley Mosk, at 111 N. Hill St. in downtown Los Angeles. I file electronically for you, and the court says parties represented by attorneys must file documents electronically.

By the Census Bureau’s estimate, 2,901 of ZIP code 91307’s 9,168 homes, about 32%, were built before 1960 (American Community Survey, 2020 to 2024).

Questions West Hills clients ask

My mother left a share to my son, who is 12. What happens?

It cannot be paid to him. Depending on the amount that means a guardianship of the estate with court supervision and accountings, or a blocked account, until he turns 18. Then whatever remains is handed to him outright.

It was a life insurance policy, not the will. Does that help?

No, and it is the most common route to this. The asset passes outside the estate, so the probate does not control it, but the insurer still will not pay a minor. You can end up in a guardianship proceeding for an asset that never went through probate.

Can we avoid the court process?

For money already payable to a minor, usually not entirely. For the rest of the family, absolutely, and it is worth doing now. A trust holds a child’s share and pays it on terms you choose rather than at 18.

Where is a West Hills probate filed?

Downtown at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse, 111 N. Hill Street. Los Angeles County centralizes probate there and there is no Valley probate court.

How long does it take?

Plan on twelve to eighteen months. A guardianship of the estate running alongside adds its own timeline and continues until the child turns 18.

How much can the executor and the attorney each charge on a West Hills house?

The statutory schedule allows each of them $22,703 on the typical 91307 home value of $985,165, if the house is the whole estate. It’s figured on gross value, so a mortgage doesn’t reduce it. Estates with more than the house allow more, and the court approves the amounts.

Can I use the $750,000 petition for my parent’s West Hills house?

Only if the gross value of the house on the date of death is $750,000 or less, it was your parent’s primary residence, and 40 days have passed since the death. At the typical ZIP value it’s over the limit. An appraisal at the date of death decides it.

Do I owe transfer tax when the court distributes the house to me?

Not documentary transfer tax. Rev. & Tax. Code § 11930 exempts a deed or writing that transfers realty by reason of the death of any person. Property tax reassessment is a separate question that depends on who takes the house.