Most people facing this question have just been handed a job they never trained for. A parent or spouse has died, a will or trust names them to take charge, and siblings or other relatives are already asking what happens next. Before any decision about the house or the accounts, a more basic question comes up: whom to call first, and what each of these people actually does. This page walks through each kind of professional in the order a family tends to meet them.
The Professionals Who Help Settle a California Estate
Each role in an estate has its own meaning, and the professionals work around those roles. Under the California Courts' Guide to property after someone dies, a personal representative is the person a judge appoints to represent the estate in probate. That person collects the property, pays the bills and distributes what remains to the people with a legal right to it, called heirs or beneficiaries. An executor is the person a will names to be in charge. An administrator is the personal representative a court appoints when there is no will, or when no named executor can serve. A trustee carries out the terms of a trust, and a successor trustee is the person the trust names to take over after the person who created it dies or can no longer act.
The professionals who support these roles include:
- Probate attorney. An attorney guides the executor, administrator or successor trustee through court or out-of-court procedures.
- Professional fiduciary. A licensed professional fiduciary can serve in the role itself when no family member is able or willing.
- CPA or enrolled agent. These professionals prepare the tax returns and help with basis questions.
- Probate referee. A court-appointed appraiser values certain non-cash assets in a probate case.
- Real estate attorney or title officer. Either can help when real property has to be transferred or sold.
The right mix depends on the documents, the assets and whether a court case is needed.
When a Probate Attorney Is Involved
A probate attorney advises or represents an executor or administrator through a probate case in the Superior Court of the county where the person who died lived. Opening probate, as the California Courts' guide explains, means asking a judge to appoint a personal representative. Practicing law in California requires a license. Under Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code section 6125, "No person shall practice law in California unless the person is an active licensee of the State Bar."
Families often bring in a probate attorney when formal probate is required, when the estate holds real property or a business, or when the will is unclear. An attorney is just as useful outside court, helping a successor trustee understand the trust's terms and the notice duties described below.
The State Bar also certifies attorneys as specialists in Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law. The State Bar's Legal Specialization brochure says certification exists "to help the public identify attorneys who have demonstrated proficiency in specialized fields of law." It also notes that each attorney sets their own fees.
Sometimes heirs, a trustee or an executor are in conflict, or someone suspects misconduct. That is a contested matter, which is a different subject handled by an attorney who litigates trust and probate cases.
When a Professional Fiduciary Steps In
A professional fiduciary is a paid, licensed person who takes on the estate role itself rather than advising the person who holds it. Under Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code section 6501, the term includes, among other roles, a personal representative of a decedent's estate for two or more individuals at the same time who are not related to the fiduciary or to each other. It also includes a trustee, or an agent under a durable power of attorney for health care or for finances, for four or more individuals at the same time, counted under the rules that section sets out.
Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code section 6530 provides that, on and after January 1, 2009, no one may act or hold themselves out as a professional fiduciary without a license. The exceptions are licensed attorneys, CPAs acting within their scope of practice, and enrolled agents acting within theirs.
Licensing is handled by the Professional Fiduciaries Bureau within the Department of Consumer Affairs. The Bureau's guide, What is a Professional Fiduciary? A Guide for Consumers, says courts cannot appoint an individual to act as a professional fiduciary for nonfamily members unless that person holds a valid license or is exempt by law. The same guide says a trust's creator may name a professional fiduciary as trustee. Where no trustee is available or named, the court may appoint one.
For a family whose relatives live far away or cannot agree, this is often the role that keeps the estate moving.
The Probate Referee's Role in Valuing Estate Assets
A probate referee is an appraiser connected to the court, not someone the family hires. In a probate case, probate referees are appointed by the State Controller's Office, the court designates the referee for a particular estate, and the executor or administrator does not pick which referee that is.
The referee values non-cash assets for the inventory and appraisal filed with the Superior Court. These include real property, stocks, business interests and similar property. Cash and certain cash equivalents are valued by the personal representative instead. That inventory becomes the estate's record of what the person owned and what it was worth around the time of death, a figure that matters later for taxes and for dividing property among heirs.
A probate referee generally appears only in a court-supervised estate. A successor trustee settling a trust outside court does not receive one. When a trust holds a house, the trustee often turns to a licensed real estate appraiser for a date-of-death value instead.
The California Courts' Guide to property after someone dies is the courts' own plain-language walk through the probate process, including what the personal representative does.
Tax Professionals: CPAs, Enrolled Agents, and Tax Attorneys
Tax work begins soon after a death, and it is easy to overlook while the family is focused on the house. A CPA or an enrolled agent typically prepares the decedent's final federal and California income tax returns. If the estate earns income while it is being settled, they also prepare the estate's fiduciary income tax return. Under Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code section 5050, practicing public accountancy in California generally requires a permit issued by the California Board of Accountancy, with limited exceptions.
Basis is the other recurring question. Basis is the starting value used to measure gain when property is sold. Under 26 U.S.C. § 1014(a), the basis of property acquired from a decedent is generally "the fair market value of the property at the date of the decedent's death." Different values apply in specific cases, including an alternate valuation election. How that rule applies to a particular house or account is a question for a CPA, an enrolled agent or a tax attorney. This page describes the question, not the answer.
The two kinds of help differ. A CPA or enrolled agent handles compliance, meaning returns and filings. A tax attorney handles disputes with the IRS or the Franchise Tax Board and legal questions that come up during administration. Property tax is separate. For a transfer on or after February 16, 2021, a claim to exclude an inherited home from reassessment is filed with the county assessor under Rev. & Tax. Code section 63.2, and that section sets the claim's conditions and filing periods, including that the home was the transferor's principal residence and becomes the transferee's principal residence within one year. It covers a transfer from parent to child, or from grandparent to grandchild when all of the grandchild's parents, other than stepparents, who are the grandparents' children are deceased as of the date of the transfer, and the exclusion is full only if the home's market value is less than its taxable value just before the transfer plus a limit set by law, which the county assessor's office can confirm; above that, the difference is added to the taxable value. Current federal and California tax figures are published by the IRS and the Franchise Tax Board.
Settling an Estate Without Probate: Simplified Procedures and Successor Trustees
Not every estate needs a court case. Some property passes outside probate, including assets held in a living trust, joint tenancy property and accounts with a beneficiary designation. The broader picture is covered under estate settlement without probate.
A successor trustee administers and distributes trust assets without court supervision. No attorney is legally required, although many trustees hire one for guidance. The trustee does have a notice duty. Under Cal. Prob. Code section 16061.7, when a revocable trust becomes irrevocable because a settlor dies, the successor trustee serves a notification on each beneficiary and each heir. The deadline is not later than 60 days after that event, or 60 days after the trustee learns of a person entitled to notice whom the trustee did not know about at the time.
Smaller estates may qualify for California's simplified procedures:
- the affidavit for collection or transfer of personal property
- the petition to determine succession to the decedent's primary residence
- the affidavit for real property of small value
- the spousal or domestic partner property petition
Under Cal. Prob. Code section 13100, the personal property affidavit is available only when the gross value of the decedent's real and personal property in California, not counting certain property, does not exceed a limit that is adjusted periodically, and only after 40 days have passed since the death. The California Courts publish the current limit. A successor trustee or family using these paths may still bring in a CPA, an attorney or a professional fiduciary for specific tasks.
How to Find and Evaluate Each Type of Professional
Every license mentioned here can be checked on the regulator's own website:
How many professionals an estate needs varies. An executor or successor trustee with one asset and clear beneficiaries may need only one. An estate with real property, a business interest or family disagreement typically involves several. Useful questions to ask any of them include what work they will do, who will do it, and how their fees are set. The California Estate Professionals Directory describes each license category.
