Under California’s Independent Administration of Estates Act, full authority and limited authority differ only on real estate. A personal representative with full authority can sell, exchange, grant an option on, or borrow against estate real property after giving beneficiaries a Notice of Proposed Action. With limited authority, those four real property transactions have to go through the probate court, which for a sale means a confirmation hearing where outside buyers can overbid. The level of authority can also change the size of the probate bond.
Everything else the Act allows, such as paying bills, selling a car, handling investments, and settling most debts, works the same under either kind of authority. This article covers California probate estates only. It doesn’t apply to living trusts, since a successor trustee doesn’t need a probate court’s permission to begin with.
What the Independent Administration of Estates Act does
The Act, found at Prob. Code, §§ 10400 to 10592, lets an executor or administrator (the statute’s term for both is “personal representative”) handle many estate tasks without first asking the court. Without it, the personal representative needs what the Act calls “court supervision,” defined in § 10401 as the court order, authorization, approval, confirmation, or instructions the Probate Code would otherwise require.
Authority under the Act isn’t automatic. The personal representative asks for it, usually in the petition for probate, and § 10450 lets the petition request either full or limited authority. On the Judicial Council petition, form DE-111, that’s the “full” or “limited authority” checkbox in item 2c. For background on the Act itself, see the glossary entry on the Independent Administration of Estates Act.
Full authority vs. limited authority: the statutory definitions
§ 10402 defines full authority as authority that includes all the powers granted under the Act.
§ 10403 defines limited authority as every one of those powers except four:
- Selling real property
- Exchanging real property
- Granting an option to purchase real property
- Borrowing money with the loan secured by an encumbrance on real property
That’s the entire difference in powers. § 10501, subd. (b) then says a personal representative with only limited authority must get court supervision for those same four transactions. The full-authority side appears in the powers sections themselves: § 10511 (sell or exchange real property), § 10515 (grant an option), and § 10514, subd. (b) (borrow against real property), each of which gives the power only to a personal representative who has full authority.
Side-by-side comparison
| Action or issue | Full authority | Limited authority |
|---|---|---|
| Sell or exchange real property | Allowed after Notice of Proposed Action (§§ 10510, 10511) | Court supervision required. A sale goes to a confirmation hearing (§ 10501, subd. (b)) |
| Grant an option to buy real property | Allowed after Notice of Proposed Action (§§ 10510, 10515) | Court supervision required (§ 10501, subd. (b)(3)) |
| Borrow money secured by real property | Allowed after Notice of Proposed Action (§§ 10510, 10514, subd. (b)) | Court supervision required (§ 10501, subd. (b)(4)) |
| Other powers under the Act | Same | Same (§ 10403 removes only the four real property powers) |
| Fees, accountings, distributions, deals with the personal representative or their attorney | Court supervision required (§ 10501, subd. (a)) | Court supervision required (§ 10501, subd. (a)) |
| Maximum bond, when a bond is required | Personal property, plus real property authorized to be sold, plus a year’s gross income (§ 10453, subd. (a)) | Personal property plus a year’s gross income. Real property is left out (§ 10453, subd. (b)) |
| What the letters say | “with full authority” box checked on form DE-150 | “with limited authority” box checked, spelling out the three excluded categories |
Selling the house under each kind of authority
For most families, the house is the reason the distinction matters.
With full authority, the personal representative can list and sell the property on terms they negotiate. § 10503 says the rules for court-confirmed sales don’t apply, naming published notice of sale, court approval of broker commissions, the 90 percent of appraised value floor, and the court’s review of whether the price is the best reasonably attainable. What does apply is the Notice of Proposed Action. § 10510 makes the real property powers conditional on the notice procedure. Under § 10585, the notice for a real property sale has to state the material terms, including the price and the broker’s commission or how it’s calculated. § 10586 requires delivery at least 15 days before the action date. The Judicial Council form is DE-165, and its item 4 is the real property box.
With limited authority, the sale goes through the probate court’s confirmation process. § 10309 bars confirming a private sale unless the property was appraised within a year of the hearing and the price is at least 90 percent of that appraisal. At the hearing, § 10311 lets another buyer overbid: 10 percent more on the first $10,000 of the original bid and 5 percent more on the rest. The DE-165 form itself warns beneficiaries that a sale without court supervision skips that overbid hearing. That process takes more time and makes buyers less certain they’ll get the property. For how confirmation hearings run, see probate home sales and court confirmation.
Full authority doesn’t let the personal representative ignore the beneficiaries. Anyone entitled to notice can object in writing before the action date under § 10587. They can also get a restraining order under § 10588, which the court grants without notice to the personal representative and without any showing of cause. Once there’s an objection or restraining order, § 10589 requires the sale to go through court supervision after all. One beneficiary can turn a full-authority sale into a court-confirmed sale. For more on that, see whether an executor can sell property without beneficiary approval.
The bond difference
The difference in bond amounts gets less attention than the difference in selling powers, and it can be the bigger practical issue.
A bond is required unless the will waives it or every beneficiary waives it in writing (§ 8481, subd. (a)), and the court can still require one for good cause (§ 8481, subd. (b)). When a bond is required, § 10453 sets the ceiling by type of authority:
- Full authority: up to the estimated value of the personal property, plus the decedent’s interest in real property authorized to be sold under the Act, plus the estate’s probable annual gross income.
- Limited authority: up to the personal property plus the probable annual gross income. The real property doesn’t count.
The general bond statute, § 8482, follows the same rule: real property counts only “if independent administration is granted as to real property.” If personal sureties sign the bond instead of a surety company, the amount doubles (§ 8482, subd. (c)).
Hypothetical. Say an intestate estate has a house worth $1,200,000, $150,000 in bank and brokerage accounts, and about $20,000 a year in income, and nobody has waived bond. With full authority, the bond ceiling is $1,370,000. With limited authority, it’s $170,000. A surety company underwrites the personal representative’s credit and charges a premium based on the bond amount, so the larger bond can be harder to qualify for and cost more. That’s a common reason an administrator asks for limited authority up front. If the house later needs to be sold under court supervision, § 8482, subd. (d) requires the court to set any additional bond that’s proper before it confirms the sale, treating the expected proceeds as personal property. For more on costs and waivers, see probate bonds in California.
What full authority still can’t do
Full authority doesn’t take the court out of the case. § 10501, subd. (a) requires court supervision “whether the personal representative has been granted full authority or limited authority” for:
- The personal representative’s compensation and the attorney’s compensation
- Settling accounts
- Preliminary and final distributions and discharge (subject to § 10520)
- Selling or exchanging estate property with, or granting an option to, the personal representative or their attorney
- Paying or compromising a claim the personal representative or their attorney holds against the estate, and settling the estate’s claims against them
- Extending or changing the terms of a debt the personal representative or their attorney owes the estate
There’s a narrow exception for transactions between the personal representative and the estate: § 10501, subd. (c) waives court supervision for those deals if the personal representative is the sole beneficiary or all known heirs or devisees consent, the creditor claim period has expired, no special-notice requests are outstanding, and every filed creditor claim has been resolved. So an executor who wants to buy the family home from the estate usually needs a court order no matter which authority they hold, unless every one of those conditions is met.
How the court decides, and how authority changes later
The default is to grant it. Under § 10452, the court must grant the authority requested unless an interested person objects and shows good cause. If the objector shows good cause only for limiting the authority, the court grants limited authority. § 10451, subd. (c) requires the notice of hearing to tell interested persons that authority “will be granted unless good cause is shown why it should not be.”
The will can block it or narrow it. If the will says the estate shall not be administered under the Act, no authority can be granted (§ 10404), and a will can restrict the powers the personal representative may use (§ 10502, subd. (b)). The DE-111 petition has the petitioner state that the will doesn’t preclude independent administration.
Authority can be downgraded or revoked. Any interested person can petition under § 10454 to revoke the Act authority entirely, or to swap full authority for limited authority. On a showing of good cause, the court makes the order and new letters issue reflecting the change.
It can also be requested later. § 10450, subd. (a) lets the personal representative petition for authority in a separate petition filed during the estate proceedings, not only at appointment. A personal representative who started with limited authority can use that route to ask for full authority. If bond was required, expect the court to revisit the amount under § 10453, subd. (a).
How to tell which authority an estate has
Read the letters. § 8405, subd. (c) requires the letters to state whether the personal representative may act under the Act, and if so whether that authority includes or excludes the four real property powers. On the Judicial Council Letters form, DE-150, look for the “with full authority” and “with limited authority” boxes. The Order for Probate, DE-140, states the same thing in item 4. A Notice of Proposed Action on DE-165 has to say which one applies in item 2. For more on the letters themselves, see letters testamentary.
For buyers and title companies, § 10591 protects good-faith purchasers: a personal representative’s failure to follow the notice procedure doesn’t undo a transfer to a bona fide purchaser without actual notice of the failure, and people dealing with the personal representative have no duty to investigate compliance. The personal representative doesn’t get the same protection. Under § 10592, the court may remove a personal representative who skips a required notice or who proceeds over an objection in violation of § 10589.
Which to ask for
My rule of thumb for the choice, which your own estate may not fit:
- Ask for full authority when the estate owns real property that will probably be sold, the family is on reasonable terms, and bond is waived or the personal representative can qualify for the larger bond. It avoids the confirmation hearing, the 90 percent appraisal floor, and the overbid process.
- Limited authority makes sense when bond is required and the full-authority bond would be too large to obtain or too expensive, when there’s no real property, or when the estate will keep or distribute the real property rather than sell it.
- Expect limited authority, or a later downgrade, when a family member has good reason to want the court watching the sale of the house. An objector who shows good cause can limit the authority at the start (§ 10452) or later (§ 10454).
Either way, the paperwork adds time to the case, and a court-confirmed sale adds a hearing. For a sense of the overall schedule, see the California probate timeline.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between full and limited authority under the IAEA?
Limited authority is full authority minus four real property powers: selling, exchanging, granting an option to purchase, and borrowing against real property (Prob. Code, § 10403). With limited authority, those four transactions need court supervision under § 10501, subd. (b). Every other power under the Act is the same.
Can an executor with limited authority sell the house?
Yes, but not on their own. The sale has to be confirmed by the probate court at a hearing where the price must be at least 90 percent of a recent appraisal (§ 10309) and other buyers can overbid (§ 10311).
Does full authority mean beneficiaries have no say in a sale?
No. A real property sale under full authority requires a Notice of Proposed Action delivered at least 15 days ahead (§§ 10510, 10586). A beneficiary who objects in writing or serves a restraining order forces the sale into court supervision (§§ 10587 to 10589).
Why would anyone choose limited authority?
Usually because of the bond. When a bond is required, full authority adds the value of real property authorized to be sold to the maximum bond amount, and limited authority leaves it out (§ 10453). An objector can also persuade the court to grant only limited authority by showing good cause (§ 10452).
Where do I find out which authority the personal representative has?
On the letters. § 8405, subd. (c) requires the letters to say whether the personal representative has Act authority and whether it includes the real property powers. On form DE-150 it’s a checkbox for full or limited authority.
Can limited authority be changed to full authority later?
The personal representative can petition for authority under the Act in a separate petition during the case (§ 10450, subd. (a)), and that petition can ask for full authority. It also works in the other direction: an interested person can petition to reduce full authority to limited or revoke it entirely (§ 10454).
Does full authority let the executor pay their own fees?
No. Compensation for the personal representative and the attorney, accountings, distributions, and deals between the estate and the personal representative or their attorney all require court supervision under either kind of authority (§ 10501, subd. (a)), with a narrow exception in § 10501, subd. (c).
Want a straight read on where you stand?
Talk to Eric. A free 30-minute call, no pitch. He’ll tell you where you’re exposed, what it would cost to fix, and what you can skip.
Talk to Eric