The First 30 Days After a Death in California

How long do you have to file a will after someone dies in California?

If you are holding the decedent’s original will, California law requires you to lodge it with the superior court clerk in the county where they lived within 30 days of learning of the death (Prob. Code §8200). This deadline applies whether or not the family ends up opening probate, so it belongs on the very first list, not the second.

The one thing to remember

The mistakes I see in the first month come from moving too fast, not too slow. There is no prize for settling an estate quickly, and a rushed distribution or a signed check can’t be taken back. Take care of the people first. The paperwork will wait.

Do you have to open probate right away?

No. Opening a probate case is rarely something that has to happen in the first days after a death. Before you file anything, take the time to locate the will, secure the home and the decedent’s property, and get organized. Filing before you understand what the estate actually holds usually creates work you have to undo later, not less work.

Days 1 to 7: people, pets, and the front door

1. Take care of the living first. Make sure anyone who depended on the person, a spouse, a child, an aging parent, and any pets, is safe and cared for. Nothing on this list matters more than that.
2. Secure the home and the valuables. Lock up. If the home is now empty, make sure it’s watched, the doors are secured, and obvious valuables and important papers are protected. Forward the mail so the box doesn’t advertise an empty house.
3. Order certified death certificates. The funeral home or mortuary handles this. Order eight to twelve certified copies. Banks, insurers, the county, and title companies each want an original, and it’s easier to order extras now than to chase more later.
4. Let the arrangements be the focus. The service, the obituary, the family gathering. That’s the right work for this week. The legal steps below can start next week.

Days 7 to 14: find the documents, distribute nothing

1. Locate the will and the trust. Look for the original will, any trust, and the powers of attorney. Check the home, a safe, a safe deposit box, and ask the person’s attorney if you know who that was. The originals matter more than copies.
2. Lodge the original will with the court. Whoever has the original will must deliver it to the superior court clerk in the county where the person lived within 30 days of the death. This is required even if there’s a trust and even if no probate is planned (Prob. Code §8200).
3. Do not distribute anything. Not the cash in the account, not the jewelry, not the car. Until the right person has legal authority and the debts and taxes are sorted, handing things out early can create personal liability and family conflict. It’s the most common early mistake.
4. Notify Social Security, and stop autopays with care. Notify the Social Security Administration (the funeral home often reports the death, but confirm it). Review automatic payments before cancelling anything. Some, like a mortgage or insurance, need to keep running so the house and coverage don’t lapse.

Days 14 to 30: take stock and meet the lawyer

1. Inventory what exists. Make a plain list of accounts, real property, vehicles, and life insurance. Gather deeds, recent statements, and beneficiary forms. You don’t need values to the penny yet; you need to know what’s there.
2. Meet with an attorney. Bring the documents and the inventory. A short meeting tells you whether the estate goes through a trust, a small-estate procedure, or probate, and what the successor trustee or executor actually has to do. This is the point where guessing stops.
3. Know that the trustee’s clock has started. If there’s a trust, the successor trustee’s duties began at the death, not when you feel ready. A required notice to beneficiaries and heirs comes due within 60 days (Prob. Code §16061.7).

What should you leave alone in the first month?

• Don’t drive the person’s car until you’ve confirmed insurance still covers it.
• Don’t cash or deposit checks made out to the person, and don’t keep using their debit card or accounts.
• Don’t promise anyone a distribution, a keepsake, or a dollar figure. You may not know yet what the estate owes.
• Don’t let a relative “borrow” the pickup, the tools, or a piece of jewelry. Once it walks out the door, getting it back can become the fight that splits the family.

What are the actual deadlines running in the background?

If you only do four things

1. Order the death certificates. Eight to twelve certified copies through the funeral home. Everything downstream needs them.
2. Find and lodge the original will. Locate it, then deliver it to the county clerk within 30 days. Keep proof that you did.
3. Freeze distributions and big decisions. Nothing gets handed out, sold, or promised until someone with authority and a clear picture of the debts says so.
4. Sit down with a lawyer. One meeting maps the whole road: trust, small estate, or probate, who’s in charge, and which clocks are ticking.

What’s the rule of thumb for the first 30 days?

There is no prize for settling an estate quickly. Take care of the people first. The paperwork will wait.

This is general information about California law, not legal advice, and reading it doesn’t make you a client. Timelines are the common ones; your situation may differ, and statutory deadlines can turn on facts specific to the estate, so confirm them before relying on them.

For a fuller walk-through of how each path unfolds from here, see our process page. Once you have the death certificate, use the successor trustee timeline generator to see every California deadline ahead of you, computed from the actual date of death.

Want this guide as a PDF?

Download the printable checklist to keep close at hand during the first weeks.

The first 30 days at a glance

Printable Checklist: The First 30 Days

For the administration steps that follow the first month, see the successor trustee guide and the trust funding checklist. If there’s no trust or the trust doesn’t cover everything, our probate page walks through what comes next.

Talk to Eric