# The California Executor’s Playbook > You're the executor. The court has a schedule, the creditors have a deadline, and your family is watching. Source: https://ridleylawoffices.com/books/california-executors-playbook/ ![Cover of The California Executor's Playbook: Checklists, Forms and What-Ifs for Settling an Estate Through Probate, by Eric Ridley](/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/california-executors-playbook-eric-ridley-cover-640.webp) Checklists, Forms and What-Ifs for Settling an Estate Through Probate By Eric Ridley, attorney, Ridley Law 196 pages in paperback [Buy on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HRCW9PLK) [See all books by Eric Ridley](https://ridleylawoffices.com/books/) **You’re the executor. The court has a schedule, the creditors have a deadline, and your family is watching.** *The California Executor’s Playbook* walks a first-time executor through a California probate in the order it actually happens, from deciding whether to serve to the court’s order discharging you. It’s written by a California attorney whose practice emphasizes estate planning, trust administration and probate, and it says plainly what to do this week, what can wait, and where executors end up paying out of pocket. ## What’s inside - **Before you file.** Whether you have to serve, whether the estate needs probate at all, and the small-estate shortcuts. - **Getting appointed.** The petition, notice and publication, the hearing, bond and your letters. - **Running the estate.** Your powers and the Notice of Proposed Action, the estate account, finding every asset, the inventory and the probate referee. - **Debts and taxes.** Creditor notices, the claim period, the order of payment, the agency notices and every return the estate owes. - **Closing.** The accounting, the final petition, fees, distribution to adults and minors, receipts and discharge. - **Forty-six what-ifs.** A newer will, a sibling who won’t leave the house, a missing heir, an estate that can’t pay everyone. - **One family’s estate, start to finish.** An invented California estate followed chapter by chapter, with real dates and the arithmetic. Every rule is tied to its source in the Probate Code and federal law. The back of the book has a master checklist, eleven worksheets, seven sample letters, a map of the court forms, this year’s numbers, answers to common questions and a glossary. Every chapter ends with a short summary of what it covered, and 77 charts, tables and diagrams run through the book. *This book is general information about California law. It isn’t legal, tax or financial advice.* ## Read the free guide first - [How California probate works](https://ridleylawoffices.com/probate/) - [California probate fee calculator](https://ridleylawoffices.com/probate-calculator/) - [Probate in Southern California, county by county](https://ridleylawoffices.com/probate-guide-socal/) ## More books: when someone dies - [![Cover of The First 30 Days After a Death, by Eric Ridley](/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/the-first-30-days-after-a-death-eric-ridley-cover-400.webp)The First 30 Days After a DeathAvailable on Amazon](https://ridleylawoffices.com/books/first-30-days-after-a-death/) - [![Cover of You're the Trustee Now: Your First 90 Days, by Eric Ridley](/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/youre-the-trustee-now-eric-ridley-cover-400.webp)You’re the Trustee Now: Your First 90 DaysComing soon](https://ridleylawoffices.com/books/youre-the-trustee-now/) - [![Cover of Mom Died and the House Is Still in Her Name, by Eric Ridley](/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/mom-died-and-the-house-is-still-in-her-name-eric-ridley-cover-400.webp)Mom Died and the House Is Still in Her NameAvailable on Amazon](https://ridleylawoffices.com/books/house-still-in-moms-name/) - [![Cover of Selling a House Through Probate, by Eric Ridley](/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/selling-a-house-through-probate-eric-ridley-cover-400.webp)Selling a House Through ProbateComing soon](https://ridleylawoffices.com/books/selling-a-house-through-probate/)