How to Collect a Deceased Spouse’s Final Paycheck in California

Short answer: California lets a surviving spouse collect a deceased spouse’s unpaid wages — final paycheck, accrued vacation, unused PTO — with a simple affidavit under Probate Code §§13600–13601. No probate, no court, no lawyer required. The cap is $20,875 (net, for deaths on or after April 1, 2025; the figure adjusts next on April 1, 2028), and the cap is waived entirely for firefighters and peace officers under Government Code §22820(a). Once you hand the employer a proper affidavit, they’re required to pay promptly.

Figures verified against Probate Code §890 adjusted amounts and Judicial Council form DE-300, 2026. This is general information, not legal advice for your situation.

Your spouse died mid-pay-period. The employer owes a final paycheck, two weeks of accrued vacation, maybe a spot bonus — call it $6,400 for an Oxnard warehouse supervisor. The payroll department says they “can’t release funds to anyone but the employee” and mumbles something about probate. They’re wrong, and the Probate Code says so specifically. Here’s the procedure that gets that check into your hands.

The §13600 affidavit: how it works

Probate Code §13600 lets the surviving spouse (or the guardian or conservator of the surviving spouse’s estate, acting for them) collect salary or other compensation owed to the deceased spouse — including compensation for unused vacation — up to a net aggregate of $20,875, without any probate administration at all.

The mechanics are in §13601: you present the employer with a written declaration, signed under penalty of perjury, stating the facts the statute requires — essentially that your spouse died, that you’re the surviving spouse entitled to the compensation, that no one else has a superior claim, and that the amount sought is within the cap. You attach a certified copy of the death certificate. The employer then pays you the compensation directly.

A few things worth knowing about the numbers:

• The $20,875 figure applies to deaths on or after April 1, 2025. These thresholds adjust every three years under Probate Code §890; the next adjustment lands April 1, 2028. The Judicial Council publishes the current amounts on form DE-300.
• The cap disappears for firefighters and peace officers. Under Government Code §22820(a), a surviving spouse of a firefighter or peace officer can collect the full unpaid compensation by this procedure, whatever the amount.
• “Net” matters. The cap is measured as a net aggregate — what’s actually owed after ordinary payroll withholding, across all of the decedent’s employers combined, not per employer.

When the employer stalls

Most payroll departments — especially at smaller Ventura County businesses — have never seen a §13601 affidavit and their first instinct is to freeze. Two points usually unstick them:

• The statute is mandatory, not optional. Once a proper affidavit is presented, the employer is required to pay the compensation promptly. Paying on the affidavit also protects the employer — the statute discharges them from liability for amounts paid this way, which is exactly the reassurance a nervous HR manager needs. Point them to Probate Code §§13600–13601 by number; it usually ends the conversation.
• They don’t get to demand probate letters. The entire purpose of this procedure is to skip probate for wages. An employer insisting on “letters testamentary” for a $6,400 paycheck is asking you to spend months and thousands of dollars to collect something the Legislature specifically made collectible with one notarized page.

If an employer flatly refuses a valid affidavit, the fix is usually a short letter citing the statute — genuine litigation over this is rare and almost never necessary.

This stacks with the other small-estate tools

Here’s the part most articles miss: the wage affidavit doesn’t compete with California’s other probate shortcuts — it stacks with them.

• Wages collected under §13600 don’t count against the small-estate limit. Under Probate Code §13050(c), up to $20,875 of unpaid salary is excluded when you value the estate for the general small-estate affidavit under §13100. So you can collect the paycheck under §13600 and use the $208,850 small-estate affidavit for bank accounts and other personal property — the paycheck doesn’t eat into that ceiling.
• Spouses have an even bigger tool for the rest. Property passing outright to a surviving spouse can move by a spousal property petition — a single court hearing, not a full probate — with no dollar cap at all. The wage affidavit handles the paycheck this week; the petition handles the house and the brokerage account in a couple of months.
• Bank accounts have their own path. If you’re also dealing with frozen accounts, the same small-estate rules apply — here’s how to collect a deceased person’s bank accounts without probate.

The sequencing insight: use §13600 first, because it’s the fastest and has no waiting period tied to it in practice beyond preparing the paperwork — and because collecting the wages this way keeps them out of the small-estate math entirely.

Questions people actually ask

How do I get my deceased husband’s last paycheck in California?

Give the employer a declaration under Probate Code §13601 — signed under penalty of perjury, stating you’re the surviving spouse entitled to the unpaid compensation — with a certified death certificate attached. The employer must then pay you the wages, up to $20,875, without probate. No court filing is involved.

Does a final paycheck have to go through probate in California?

No — not if there’s a surviving spouse and the compensation owed is $20,875 or less. Probate Code §§13600–13601 exist precisely so wages skip probate. Even in larger estates, the paycheck can come out this way while other assets go through a spousal property petition or administration.

What is the maximum amount a surviving spouse can collect under Probate Code 13600?

$20,875 net, aggregated across all the decedent’s employers, for deaths on or after April 1, 2025. The figure is adjusted for inflation every three years; the next adjustment is April 1, 2028. For surviving spouses of firefighters and peace officers, Government Code §22820(a) removes the cap entirely.

Does unpaid vacation count as wages the spouse can collect?

Yes. The statute covers salary or other compensation, including compensation for unused vacation, up to the $20,875 cap. In California accrued vacation is earned wages, so a substantial PTO balance is often the biggest piece of the final check.

What if the employer refuses to pay on the affidavit?

Send a short written demand citing Probate Code §§13600–13601 and noting that payment on the affidavit discharges the employer from liability. Refusals almost always come from unfamiliarity, not defiance, and a letter with the code sections fixes it. If it doesn’t, a lawyer’s letter typically will.

What if the final paycheck is more than $20,875?

You can collect $20,875 by affidavit unless the firefighter/peace-officer exception applies. Any excess compensation is collected through the estate’s other channels — typically a spousal property petition if it passes to you, or the small-estate affidavit if the total estate qualifies. The excess isn’t lost; it just takes a different door.

The bottom line

A surviving spouse should almost never probate a paycheck. Probate Code §§13600–13601 turn the final wages — including that vacation balance — into a one-affidavit collection with a $20,875 ceiling, no ceiling at all for firefighter and peace-officer families, and a legal obligation on the employer to pay promptly. It stacks cleanly with the small-estate affidavit and the spousal property petition, so it’s usually step one in settling a spouse’s affairs, not a substitute for the rest. If you’re sorting out which tool fits which asset, talk to Eric — mapping that out is a short conversation, and it can save you a probate you never needed.

Sources: Cal. Prob. Code §§13600–13601; Cal. Prob. Code §13050(c); Cal. Prob. Code §§13100–13101 ($208,850 small-estate threshold, deaths on/after 4/1/2025); Cal. Prob. Code §890 (triennial adjustments; Judicial Council form DE-300); Cal. Gov. Code §22820(a).