Most people facing this role learned they were the executor at the worst possible moment, often from a will found in a drawer, with brothers, sisters or a surviving parent already asking what happens next. They are grieving, doing paperwork nobody trained them for, and trying to work out which tasks are urgent and which can wait. This page walks through what the role means in California, in order, so the family conversation can start from the same facts.
What an Executor Is — and What the Title Means Under California Law
An executor is the person a will names to carry out its terms. An administrator is the person the court appoints when there is no will, or when the named executor cannot or will not serve. The California Probate Code uses one umbrella term for both: the personal representative, meaning the person who represents the estate in the probate process, as the California Courts guide to property after someone dies puts it.
Being named in a will is not the same as having power. Under Probate Code section 8400, a person "has no power to administer the estate until the person is appointed personal representative and the appointment becomes effective," and the appointment becomes effective when the court issues letters. Letters are the court document that proves the personal representative's authority to banks, title companies and others; they are called letters testamentary when there is a will and letters of administration when there is not. One exception: a named executor may, before appointment, pay funeral expenses and take necessary steps to maintain and preserve the estate.
That authority comes from the probate division of the Superior Court. A trustee, or a successor trustee who takes over after a trust's creator dies, is a different role: a trustee administers a trust, not a probate estate, and does so largely without court appointment. One person can hold both titles, but the duties are separate.
The Core Duties: What California Law Requires an Executor to Do
For the family, these duties are the shape of the next year or more. Each is its own step.
Deliver the original will. Under Probate Code section 8200, unless a petition for probate is filed earlier, whoever holds the will must, within 30 days after learning of the death, deliver it to the clerk of the superior court of the county where the estate may be administered, and give a copy to the named executor (or, if the executor cannot be found, to a named beneficiary). A custodian who fails to do this is liable for resulting damages.
Open the case. The California Courts overview of formal probate says the petition is filed in the county where the decedent lived, or, for someone who lived outside California, in the county where the decedent owned property. The page says notice must be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the decedent's city, and that a judge decides at a hearing whom to appoint.
Notify creditors. The Judicial Council's DE-147 Duties and Liabilities of Personal Representative says a notice of administration must be mailed to each known creditor within four months after appointment, and, if the decedent received Medi-Cal, the State Director of Health Services must be notified within 90 days after appointment.
Inventory and appraise. Probate Code section 8800 requires a combined inventory and appraisal filed within four months after letters are first issued, or within further time the court allows as reasonable. Partial inventories are permitted, but all must be filed within that time. Alongside 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 in each county where the decedent owned property. A probate referee values most non-cash assets; the representative values certain "cash items," the DE-147 says.
Manage and protect the property. Probate Code section 9650 gives the personal representative possession or control of estate property, the right to collect debts owed to the decedent, the right to receive rents until distribution, and the duty to pay taxes and protect the estate. Real property or tangible personal property, such as furniture or a car, may be left with the person presumptively entitled to it until the representative needs it for administration. The DE-147 adds that estate money must be kept in a separate estate account, never mixed with personal funds.
Pay debts and expenses. Valid debts are paid from the estate in the order of priority the Probate Code sets, if there is money to pay them.
File tax returns. The court's overview says a final personal income tax return is prepared for the decedent, and a return is also needed if the estate itself earned money, such as interest or profit on a sale. A CPA, an enrolled agent or a tax attorney reviews those returns and any question about basis.
Report and distribute. The court's page says the representative files a final report, a final account and a petition for final distribution; the final account is not required if everyone entitled to distribution signs a written waiver or a receipt for their share. A judge then decides whether to approve distribution to beneficiaries under the will, or to heirs under California's intestate succession rules when there is no will. A house usually passes under that court order, which is why the inherited house decisions a family faces often wait on it.
A broader estate settlement checklist sets these steps alongside tasks that fall outside probate.
The Probate Timeline: How Long an Executor Has to Settle a California Estate
California sets no single deadline to finish a probate estate, but courts usually require a report about a year after the personal representative is appointed, according to the California Courts overview of formal probate. That page says the report is set for a hearing so the judge can review the administration, and that the court will give more time if more is needed.
Several statutory clocks run inside that year, and most start from letters or appointment rather than from the death: the four-month inventory period and the creditor notices described above. Creditors also have a limited window to file claims after notice; a probate attorney can say how that period runs for a particular estate.
What tends to stretch the calendar is usually not the paperwork. A will contest, missing or unknown heirs, the sale of real property, tax questions or litigation over a claim can each add months. Through all of it, the law expects the personal representative to keep the estate moving, which is part of the ordinary care described in the liability section below.