Most people facing a house full of a parent's or spouse's things are not short on effort. They are short on a clear order of steps. The rooms are full of things that mean something to different relatives. Someone may be asking when the house will be empty, and a sibling may already be asking about the jewelry. This page walks through who has the authority to decide and what to record first. It then covers how keeping, selling, donating and discarding each work in California. It is written for the person sorting the contents, not for a family working out what to do with the house itself.
Who Has Authority to Decide What Happens to Estate Property
The answer depends on whether the belongings are in a probate estate or a trust.
Probate estate. An executor is the person a will names to carry it out. An administrator is the person the court appoints when there is no will, or when no executor can serve. For an administrator, Probate Code section 8461 sets an order of priority. It begins with the surviving spouse or domestic partner, then children, then grandchildren, and the list continues through other relatives and beyond. Personal representative is the general term covering both roles once the court has issued letters, which are the court's document of appointment. Under Probate Code section 9650, the personal representative has the right to take possession or control of the decedent's property, with some exceptions. The personal representative must also pay taxes on it and take reasonable steps to manage, protect and preserve it. Whether an estate needs probate at all is a separate question: whether an estate needs probate.
Trust. Belongings held in a living trust pass outside probate. The successor trustee, the person the trust names to take over, controls them under the trust's terms.
An heir is a person who inherits by law when there is no will. A beneficiary is a person named in a will or trust. Neither role carries authority to remove or dispose of items. That decision belongs to the personal representative or trustee, and items taken early are hard to account for later. Section 9650 does allow real property or tangible items to be left with the person presumptively entitled to them until the personal representative needs them. That person must hand them over on request.
The house is real property: land and buildings. Furniture, clothing, jewelry, vehicles, accounts and household goods are personal property.
Taking Inventory Before You Sort Anything
A written list protects the person in charge as much as it serves the estate. The California Courts self-help guide, Inventory and estimate property value, describes the basic approach. The family makes a list of what the person owned and lists high-value items individually. For ordinary household items like tools, clothes and kitchen goods, the guide says a person generally does not need to list every item. They can write down the category and estimate its total value. The guide says the value is a best estimate of fair market value at the date of death, and that a formal appraisal may be needed later if the matter goes to court. In a probate case, the personal representative files a formal inventory and appraisal with the court.
Two kinds of items need separate attention:
- Things with likely monetary value. This includes jewelry, art, antiques, collectibles, vehicles and financial papers.
- Things several relatives care about. These need to be noted separately, because decisions about them often depend on agreement among beneficiaries.
A personal property appraiser values items whose worth is uncertain. Professional organizations such as the International Society of Appraisers list members. Photographing each room and listing items before anything moves creates a record. That record is useful if a beneficiary later asks what happened to a particular piece.
If the decedent had a safe deposit box in their name alone, Probate Code section 331 lets a person with the key open it before letters issue, under the supervision of a bank officer or employee. That person must show the bank proof of death and proof of identity. They may inventory the contents and remove burial instructions and, after the bank photocopies them, wills and trust instruments; the bank keeps the copies. Any will found must go to the superior court clerk, with a copy to the person named in it as executor or beneficiary, and nothing else may be removed.
What to Keep: Items That Pass Directly to Beneficiaries
Some belongings are never part of the sorting decision. Items a will or trust leaves to a named person go to that person. The personal representative or successor trustee delivers them, and they are not available for sale or donation unless that beneficiary agrees. A practical first step is to set these items aside physically and label them before sorting the rest.
A will can also refer to a separate written list of personal items. Under Probate Code section 6132, that writing is effective only if three conditions are met:
- an unrevoked will refers to it;
- it is dated and either handwritten or signed by the testator, the person who made the will;
- it describes the items and recipients with reasonable certainty.
The total value of items given this way cannot exceed $25,000. Any single item worth more than $5,000 is not covered by the list and passes under the will's remainder clause. In probate, the personal representative files this writing along with the inventory and appraisal. If it is found later, it must be filed no later than 60 days before the petition for final distribution.
Other property passes outside probate entirely. That includes items in a living trust, accounts with a named beneficiary, and community property passing to a surviving spouse or registered domestic partner. A spouse or partner may have rights to certain items. Those rights depend on how title was held and on what the will or trust says, and a probate attorney can clarify them.
During probate, two other protections can affect what a family may use or keep. A family allowance is support the court can order paid to a surviving spouse or minor children while the estate is open. A probate homestead is a court-set right for them to stay in a home for a period.