Inventorying Probate Assets CA?

The inventory is the estate’s official list of what the decedent owned and what it was worth. It sets the numbers the court, the beneficiaries and the creditors all work from, and it sets the base for the statutory fees paid to the executor and the attorney.

Law verified against Prob. Code §§8800 to 8804, 8850, 8901 to 8961, 10800 and 10810, 2026. This is general information, not legal advice for your situation.

The inventory sets the numbers the whole probate works from

The executor’s and the attorney’s statutory fees are both figured on what the inventory says the estate is worth. On a $700,000 estate, each fee comes to $17,000: 4% of the first $100,000, 3% of the next $100,000 and 2% of the remaining $500,000 (Prob. Code §10810). The percentage applies to the “estate accounted for,” which starts with the total appraisal value in the inventory, plus gains on sales and receipts, less losses on sales, without subtracting mortgages or other debts (Prob. Code §10800, §10810). The probate fee calculator runs the numbers for other estate sizes.

Every item goes on the inventory at its fair market value at the time of death, listed separately (Prob. Code §8802). Those values carry forward through the whole case. The same valuation discipline applies in a trust, where there’s no referee but the trustee still needs a date-of-death appraisal.

The four months run from letters, and the filing is one combined document

The personal representative (the executor named in the will, or the administrator the court appoints when there’s no will) files one combined document: an inventory of the property being administered in the estate, together with an appraisal of that property (Prob. Code §8800). The Judicial Council form is the DE-160 Inventory and Appraisal, with items listed on DE-161 attachments.

The clock starts when letters testamentary or letters of administration are first issued to a general personal representative, not on the date of death. The filing is due four months after that (Prob. Code §8800).

Along with the inventory, the personal representative must certify either that the decedent owned no California real property or that a change in ownership statement has been filed with the recorder or assessor in each county where the decedent owned real property (Prob. Code §8800). For a Ventura County house, that means the county assessor.

Only probate property goes on it, and the statute asks for detail on a few kinds

The inventory has to include all property to be administered in the estate, including anything on partial and supplemental inventories (Prob. Code §8850). The statute calls out three categories for specific detail (Prob. Code §8850):

• Money owed to the decedent, such as promissory notes, with the debtor’s name, the date, the original amount, and any security like a deed of trust.
• A partnership interest, appraised as a single item.
• All money and other cash items the decedent had.

The inventory also has to show, as far as the personal representative can tell, which property is community, quasi-community or separate (Prob. Code §8850). That split matters because California’s intestate rules treat community, quasi-community and separate property differently (Prob. Code §6401).

Property that passes by a beneficiary designation, a transfer-on-death provision, or a trust isn’t administered in the probate estate. California treats those as nonprobate transfers that don’t need to meet the formalities of a will (Prob. Code §5000). They stay off the DE-160. If you aren’t sure how an account is titled, pull the account agreement or the deed and look before you list it.

The personal representative values the cash items and the probate referee values the rest

The personal representative appraises the items whose value is their face value (Prob. Code §8901):

• Money, and checks or money orders issued on or before the date of death that can be cashed immediately.
• Checks issued after death for wages the decedent earned, and refund checks such as tax, utility and medical reimbursements.
• Accounts in financial institutions.
• Cash deposits and money market mutual funds, including a brokerage cash account.
• Life insurance, retirement plan and annuity proceeds payable on death in a lump sum.

Stocks, bonds and other mutual funds are not on that list. Section 8901 sends them to the appraisal rules that apply to everything else, so the referee values them.

For all other property, the personal representative delivers the inventory and supporting data to the probate referee the court designates, and the referee appraises it (Prob. Code §8902). That covers the house, rental property, a closely held business, vehicles, jewelry, art and collectibles.

The referee comes from the list of people the State Controller appoints for the county (Prob. Code §8920). The court can designate a referee the personal representative asks for, on a showing of good cause, such as the referee having recently appraised the same property (Prob. Code §8921). The court can also waive the referee entirely for good cause, but that takes a petition, notice and a hearing (Prob. Code §8903).

The referee’s commission is one-tenth of one percent of the value of the property the referee appraises, plus actual and necessary expenses (Prob. Code §8961). Property the personal representative appraised under section 8901 is excluded from that calculation.

	Personal representative values	Probate referee values
What	Money, accounts, money market funds, and lump-sum insurance, retirement, and annuity proceeds	The house, rental property, a business, vehicles, jewelry, art, collectibles, and stocks, bonds, and other mutual funds
Statute	Prob. Code § 8901	Prob. Code § 8902
Cost	No referee commission on these items	One-tenth of one percent of the appraised value, plus actual and necessary expenses (§ 8961)

A missed deadline can cost the personal representative the job

Four months is tight when the estate has real property in more than one county, a business, or accounts nobody knew about. The court may allow more time that’s reasonable under the circumstances (Prob. Code §8800). The personal representative can also file partial inventories along the way, as long as everything is filed within the time allowed (Prob. Code §8800).

If the personal representative refuses or negligently fails to file on time, an interested person can petition, and the court may (Prob. Code §8804):

• Compel the filing.
• Remove the personal representative from office.
• Hold the personal representative personally liable for injury to the estate or an interested person caused by the failure, including attorney’s fees in the court’s discretion.

Property that turns up later goes on a supplemental inventory. The personal representative files a supplemental inventory and appraisal for the newly found property, in the same manner as the original, within four months after learning about it (Prob. Code §8801). The court can allow more time.

The common mistakes come from listing the wrong things or valuing them the wrong way

• Valuing things yourself that the referee should value. Stocks, the house and the car go to the referee (Prob. Code §8901, §8902).
• Listing trust and beneficiary-designated assets. It inflates the estate on paper, and the inventory value drives the statutory fees (Prob. Code §10810).
• Skipping the community and separate property breakdown. The statute requires it where the personal representative can determine it (Prob. Code §8850).
• Forgetting the change in ownership certification for California real property (Prob. Code §8800).
• Missing debts owed to the decedent. A loan to a child documented by a note belongs on the inventory with its details (Prob. Code §8850).

The best way to find missing assets is the decedent’s last two years of tax returns, bank statements and mail. 1099s point to accounts people forget.

Small estates and trust assets skip the court inventory

If the estate is small enough, you may avoid formal probate and the DE-160 entirely. For deaths on or after April 1, 2025, a successor can collect personal property by declaration when the gross value of the decedent’s California real and personal property, excluding certain assets, doesn’t exceed $208,850 and 40 days have passed since the death (Prob. Code §13100, with the Judicial Council adjustment under §890). The small estate affidavit guide covers the exclusions and the forms. Assets held in a funded living trust skip the court inventory and are handled through trust administration instead.

If the estate is in probate, the inventory is one step in a longer process. My California probate page walks through the full sequence, and the Ventura County probate guide covers the local courthouse and calendar.

Frequently asked questions

What if more property turns up later?

The personal representative files a supplemental inventory and appraisal for the newly found property, in the same manner as the original, within four months after learning about it (Prob. Code §8801).