Essential Steps After Property Owner’s Death in California

Short answer: After a property owner dies in California, secure the property, locate the will, and figure out whether the estate has to go through formal probate. Formal probate is required once probate assets exceed $208,850 gross value, under Probate Code § 13100, and most California probate cases run twelve to eighteen months from the date the court appoints a personal representative. What follows walks through what actually has to happen, in order, and what deadlines attach to each step.

What are the first steps after a property owner dies in California?

Secure the property itself. Change locks if the home will sit vacant, keep insurance current, and do not sell, transfer, or make major changes to any asset until someone has legal authority to act. Acting before that authority exists is one of the most common ways a well-meaning family member creates a legal problem for themselves.

At the same time, search for the original will. Check a home office, filing cabinets, safe deposit box, and digital storage, and ask any attorney, financial advisor, or accountant the deceased worked with whether they hold a copy. If a will was last known to be in the deceased’s own possession and cannot be found after death, California law presumes the person destroyed it intentionally, meaning revoked it. That presumption can be rebutted, but it starts the analysis against the missing will.

Whoever physically holds the original will is legally required to lodge it with the superior court clerk in the county where the deceased lived within 30 days of learning of the death, and the filing fee is $50, under Probate Code § 8200. This obligation exists whether or not that person intends to open probate. For Ventura County residents, that filing goes to the Ventura County Superior Court, Probate Division, in the city of Ventura.

Do I need to open probate, or is there a simpler option?

That depends on the total value of assets held solely in the deceased’s name, sometimes called the probate estate. Assets held in joint tenancy, payable-on-death or transfer-on-death accounts, and accounts or policies with a named beneficiary generally pass outside probate regardless of value. California requires formal probate when the remaining probate estate exceeds $208,850 gross value, before debts, for deaths on or after April 1, 2025, under Probate Code § 13100. That threshold holds until the next scheduled adjustment on April 1, 2028.

If the estate falls under that number, a personal property affidavit can transfer assets without opening a full probate case, but only once at least 40 days have passed since death and no probate case is already pending, under Probate Code §§ 13100 and 13101. For real property other than a primary residence, a separate affidavit procedure applies at a $69,625 gross value threshold, with a six month wait and recording with the county recorder, under Probate Code § 13150. For a primary residence specifically, a surviving spouse, domestic partner, or child can petition the court to transfer a home valued up to $750,000 without full probate, under Probate Code § 13151, for deaths on or after April 1, 2025.

Worth knowing regardless of which category the estate falls into: a will, by itself, does not avoid probate. It only takes effect once a court validates it through the probate process. The only way to skip probate for an asset entirely is to have that asset already titled correctly, such as in joint tenancy, with a beneficiary designation, or inside a properly funded revocable living trust.

How do I identify and value the assets and debts?

Once a personal representative is appointed, they must file an Inventory and Appraisal within 4 months of receiving Letters, using Judicial Council Form DE-160. Build that inventory methodically: real estate, bank and brokerage accounts, retirement accounts, vehicles, business interests, and significant personal property, each with documentation of ownership and current value. Real estate and business interests generally need a professional appraisal rather than an estimate.

Build the debt side of the ledger at the same time: mortgages, credit cards, personal loans, medical bills, and any other outstanding obligations. If you are trying to get a rough sense of what probate will cost before committing to the process, a probate cost calculator can give you a starting estimate based on the estate’s gross value.

How are creditors and debts handled during probate?

The personal representative has to give creditors a real chance to come forward before the estate distributes anything. That means publishing a notice to creditors in a local newspaper once a week for four consecutive weeks, under Probate Code § 9001, and separately mailing direct written notice to each known creditor within 30 days of learning that creditor exists, under Probate Code § 9051.

A creditor then has to file its claim by the later of four months after Letters are issued to the personal representative, or 60 days after direct notice was mailed to them, under Probate Code § 9100. There is also a hard outer limit of one year from the date of death, regardless of when or whether notice was given. A creditor who misses both windows loses the right to collect from the estate. Debts, taxes, and administration expenses are paid out of the estate before any beneficiary receives a distribution, in a set legal order that generally starts with funeral and administration costs and secured debts before unsecured ones.

How does probate actually close, and what does it cost?

California sets a statutory fee for both the executor and the estate’s attorney, calculated on the same schedule under Probate Code § 10800: 4% of the first $100,000, 3% of the next $100,000, 2% of the next $800,000, 1% of the next $9,000,000, and 0.5% of the next $15,000,000. The attorney is entitled to an identical fee, calculated separately, under Probate Code § 10810. On a $1,000,000 gross estate, that schedule produces $23,000 for the executor and another $23,000 for the attorney, for $46,000 in ordinary statutory fees before court costs, bond, or any extraordinary fees for unusual work like litigation or selling real property. That fee runs on the gross value of the estate without reference to encumbrances, so a mortgage does not reduce it, under Probate Code § 10800(b).

The California Courts Self-Help Guide estimates nine months to a year and a half for a typical probate, measured from the date the court appoints a personal representative. In practice, twelve to eighteen months is a realistic expectation. If the estate is still open at 18 months, the personal representative has to file a status report explaining what remains outstanding. Closing the estate requires a final accounting of every transaction, a hearing, and a court order formally discharging the personal representative once the judge is satisfied the obligations have been met.

Figures verified July 2026.

What to do next

If you are not sure whether an estate needs full probate or qualifies for one of the simplified procedures, get that answered before you spend months assuming the wrong path. A consultation with an estate planning and probate attorney can pin down the probate estate’s actual value, confirm which deadlines already apply to your situation, and lay out whether a full court proceeding or a faster affidavit process fits. Ridley Law works with California families through exactly this process; see our overview of how the process works for what to expect.