Most people facing this code for the first time have just been handed a job. A parent has died, or a spouse. A will names someone as executor, or a trust names someone as successor trustee, and brothers, sisters or other relatives are already asking what happens to the house and the accounts. This page is a plain map of the law that person now works under: which part applies, what the main rules require, and where the official text and court forms live. The Code also covers conservatorships and guardianships for living people who need protection, which are touched on near the end.
What the California Probate Code Is
The Probate Code is one of California's statutory codes, the laws passed by the Legislature. It governs the administration of decedents' estates (the property of a person who has died), trusts, conservatorships, guardianships and related matters. The official text is published by the California Legislature at leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, and the Legislature amends the Code over time, so that site carries the current version.
The Code is organized into numbered divisions, each split into parts and chapters. The ones a grieving family most often meets include the general and procedural provisions at the front, the division on guardianship and conservatorship, the division on wills and intestate succession (who inherits when there is no will), the division on administration of estates of decedents, the division on disposition of an estate without administration, and the trust law division.
Its starting rule is simple. Title to a decedent's property generally passes at death to the person the will gives it to or, without a will, to the heirs named by the intestate succession laws (Probate Code section 7000). The Superior Court has jurisdiction over estate administration under the Code (Probate Code section 7050).
The Probate Code is the main source, but not the only one. Property tax questions, such as whether an inherited house is reassessed, fall under the Revenue and Taxation Code, and some court procedure comes from the Code of Civil Procedure.
How the Code Defines Key Roles
The title on someone's paperwork decides which rules apply to them, so the words matter.
- Personal representative. The umbrella term for the person the probate court puts in charge of an estate. The California Courts' Guide to property after someone dies describes this person as the one who collects the property, pays the bills and distributes what is left.
- Executor. A personal representative who was named in the will.
- Administrator. A personal representative the court appoints when there is no will, or when the person named in the will cannot act.
- Trustee and successor trustee. A trustee holds and manages trust property under the trust document and the Code's trust law; a successor trustee is the person who takes over when the original trustee can no longer serve. Neither is a personal representative.
- Heir. A person who inherits under the intestate succession laws when there is no will.
- Beneficiary. A person named to receive property under a will or a trust, or on an account such as a retirement plan.
These labels are not interchangeable. A successor trustee does not file a probate inventory just because a parent died, and an executor's authority comes from the court, not from the will alone. When family members use the wrong word, they often end up arguing about duties and deadlines that belong to a different role.
When there is no will, the court self-help guide says priority to serve runs through any surviving spouse or domestic partner, then a child, then a grandchild, then a parent, then a sibling, and that a judge decides who has priority.
When Probate Is Required — and When It Is Not
Whether an estate goes through probate depends on how each asset was owned and what it is worth. It does not depend on whether there is a will. The court's guide notes that an estate may need probate even if the person had a will.
Many assets pass outside probate. These typically include property held in a living trust; accounts and policies with a named beneficiary, such as life insurance, retirement accounts and payable-on-death accounts; and property held jointly with a right of survivorship. The details turn on how title reads, which is the question behind whether inherited property goes through probate.
For what remains, California offers simplified procedures, which the Judicial Council calls "summary succession." Its Check if you can use a simple process to transfer property page explains that the limits are updated every three years, most recently on April 1, 2025, with the next update on April 1, 2028. The Judicial Council's DE-300 Maximum Values form, revised April 28, 2025, lists these limits for deaths on or after April 1, 2025:
- Affidavit for collection or transfer of personal property. Available when the gross value of the decedent's real and personal property in California, minus certain excluded property, is $208,850 or less, and only after 40 days have passed since the death (Probate Code section 13100).
- Petition to determine succession to the decedent's primary residence. Available when the gross value of the primary residence in California is $750,000 or less.
- Affidavit for real property of small value. Available when all California real property in the estate, minus certain excluded property, is worth $69,625 or less.
- Spousal or domestic partner property petition. A court petition to confirm or pass property to a surviving spouse or domestic partner.
The difference between real property and personal property matters here. Real property means land and buildings. Personal property means money, accounts, vehicles and belongings. A house generally needs one of the real property procedures, while an account or a car may be collected by affidavit. The conditions behind each option are laid out in estate settlement without full probate.
Formal probate begins with a court case. The California Courts' Overview of formal probate says the case is filed in the county where the decedent lived. If the decedent lived outside California but owned property here, the case is filed in the California county where the property is.
Before that, anyone holding an original will has a duty of their own. Unless a petition for probate is filed earlier, the custodian must deliver the will to the clerk of the Superior Court of the county in which the estate may be administered within 30 days after learning of the death. The custodian must also send a copy to the named executor if the executor's whereabouts are known to the custodian or, if not, to a named beneficiary whose whereabouts are known (Probate Code section 8200).
The main stages run in this order:
- Petition and appointment. At a hearing, a judge decides whom to appoint as personal representative. The court then issues Letters, the document that proves the personal representative's authority. These are called Letters Testamentary when there is a will and Letters of Administration when there is not.
- Notice. Notice of the case is published. In addition to publication, the personal representative must give notice of administration to the decedent's known or reasonably ascertainable creditors (Probate Code section 9050). The Judicial Council's DE-147 Duties and Liabilities of Personal Representative form says this notice is mailed within four months after appointment. That form also says the State Director of Health Services must be notified within 90 days if the decedent received Medi-Cal.
- Inventory and appraisal. This must be filed within four months after letters are first issued to a general personal representative. The court may allow more time, and partial inventories are allowed within that period. Along with it, the personal representative certifies either that the decedent owned no California real property or that a change in ownership statement was filed with the recorder or assessor of each county where the decedent owned property (Probate Code section 8800). A probate referee, an appraiser appointed by the court, usually values the non-cash assets.
- Creditor claims. Creditors file claims, and the personal representative reviews them and pays debts from the estate where there is money to do so.
- Reports and closing. The court guide says courts usually require a report about a year after appointment. At the end, the personal representative files a final report, a final account and a petition for final distribution. A final account is not needed if everyone entitled to distribution signs a waiver or a receipt.
Through all of this, the DE-147 form requires the personal representative to keep estate money in an estate account, separate from their own funds.
The Independent Administration of Estates Act, part of the Code, lets a personal representative who has court authority take many actions without a hearing. Compensation for ordinary services follows a statutory sliding scale based on the value of the estate accounted for by the personal representative, starting at four percent of the first $100,000 and stepping down as the value rises. That value is figured without subtracting mortgages or other debts on the property (Probate Code section 10800).
A will contest, or a challenge to a personal representative's conduct, is a different subject handled by an attorney who litigates probate cases. The whole sequence is set out step by step in the California probate process overview.
Trust Administration Under Division 9
A successor trustee usually works without a judge. Trust administration under the Code's trust law division is normally carried out under the trust document itself and does not need court supervision unless a dispute arises or the trust requires it. That is the key practical difference from probate.
That freedom comes with duties to the beneficiaries. They include managing the property carefully, keeping trust property separate, acting loyally, and keeping beneficiaries informed.
Two notice and reporting rules are spelled out in the text. First, when a revocable trust becomes irrevocable because a settlor (the person who created the trust) dies, the successor or continuing trustee must serve a notification by trustee. It goes to each beneficiary and each heir of the deceased settlor, and it must be served within 60 days after the death. If a person entitled to notice was not known at first, the deadline is 60 days after the trustee learns of them. If the office of trustee was vacant, the 60 days start when the new trustee begins to serve (Probate Code section 16061.7).
Second, Probate Code section 16062 sets the duty to account. The trustee "shall account at least annually, at the termination of the trust, and upon a change of trustee, to each beneficiary to whom income or principal is required or authorized in the trustee's discretion to be currently distributed." That duty has exceptions, including for certain trusts created before July 1, 1987. In plain terms, an accounting is the trustee's written report of how the trust property was handled.
For a successor trustee who has just stepped in after a parent's death, these two rules are often the first deadlines that matter.
Conservatorship and Guardianship Under Division 4
Conservatorships and guardianships concern living people. A conservatorship is a court-supervised arrangement for an adult who cannot manage their own finances or personal care. The court, on a petition, may appoint a conservator of the person, a conservator of the estate, or both. A guardianship serves the same protective purpose for a minor. Neither is estate administration, which applies only after a death.
The Code also contains a statutory form power of attorney. This is a document in which a living person names an agent to handle financial matters, and it is legally sufficient when the Code's signing requirements are met (Probate Code section 4401). Where a valid power of attorney is in place, a family can sometimes manage a living relative's finances without asking a court for a conservatorship. This page does not explain how to create one.
Where to Find the Official Text and Court Forms
Every section cited on this page links, in the Sources list below, to the section's text at leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, the California Legislature's official publication of the Code. Reading the section itself, rather than a summary of it, is a dependable way to confirm what a rule says.
For forms and step-by-step court guides, the California Courts' Guide to property after someone dies is the usual starting point. Judicial Council probate forms carry "DE" numbers, such as the DE-300 and DE-147 forms discussed above. The DE-147 form itself says it is a summary and that the law governs. Courthouse addresses, filing fees and local rules come from the county's own Superior Court.
An estate with real property, debts or disagreement often brings in a lawyer. The court guide notes that a personal representative can hire one, or can pay for a consultation on a single question while handling the case themselves. A family can check a California attorney's license with the State Bar of California. The California probate attorneys directory describes what that kind of attorney does.
