Most people facing this term meet it in the middle of something already hard. A parent or spouse has died, a probate case is open, and a court paper or an attorney's letter mentions a referee nobody in the family has heard of. The person named to handle the estate often has relatives asking what the house is worth and when anything will be shared. Those relatives may be waiting on the answer. This guide explains who the referee is, what the referee values, how the referee is paid, and why that number follows the family well past the courtroom.
What a Probate Referee Does
A probate referee is a neutral appraiser of estate property. The State Controller's Office describes its Probate Referees program page this way: the Controller "appoints probate referees to perform reliable, prompt, and low-cost appraisal of all types of estate assets." The same page says a referee's service "is required for court resolution of an estate and also available for non-probate trust administration."
The referee works alongside the personal representative. The California Courts guide to property after someone dies describes the personal representative as the person "responsible for representing the estate in the probate process." That person collects the property, pays the bills and distributes what remains to the heirs or beneficiaries. An executor is the person named in a will to do this job. An administrator is the person a court appoints when no executor serves.
California law divides the valuation work. Under Probate Code section 8900, the appraisal of property in the inventory is made "by the personal representative, probate referee, or independent expert." The practical split is simple. The personal representative lists what the person owned, and the referee values most of it. The referee does not open accounts, sell property, pay creditors or decide who inherits. The referee's work is the number, not the estate.
How a Probate Referee Is Appointed
Families do not choose the referee. Under Probate Code section 400, "the Controller shall appoint at least one person in each county to act as a probate referee for the county." If a county has fewer than three qualified applicants, the Controller may designate a referee from another county or make an interim appointment until the vacancy is filled.
The Controller's page describes how a person becomes a referee:
- Testing: Candidates pass a state test on probate procedures and appraisal principles.
- Appointment: The Controller appoints referees based on the recommendations of a panel of lawyers and judges who interview qualified candidates.
- Continuing education: Referees complete 15 hours of continuing education each year.
A specific estate is assigned a referee through the court, not by the family. Probate Code section 8902 refers to "the probate referee designated by the court." The personal representative's part is to deliver the inventory and supporting information to whichever referee is designated. The Probate Referees page also lists probate referee contact information.
Because the Controller appoints the referee and the court designates one, the referee is not anyone's agent. The referee does not work for the executor, an heir or a creditor. That neutrality is part of why the court relies on the value the referee sets.
Which Assets the Referee Values — and Which They Do Not
An executor holding the referee assignment often asks one practical question first: what exactly will this person value? Probate Code section 8902 gives the general rule. "The probate referee shall appraise all property other than that appraised by the personal representative," except as otherwise provided by statute.
The law sets aside certain property for the personal representative to appraise, and some property can go to an independent expert. Everything else in the probate inventory falls to the referee. In practice that often includes the following:
- The house or other real estate: Real property is land and buildings, and it is often the largest item in the inventory.
- Investment holdings: Stocks and bonds are typical examples.
- Business interests: This covers a share of a company or a business the person owned.
- Personal belongings with real value: Jewelry, artwork and collectibles are common examples.
Which items belong to the personal representative and which to the referee depends on the type of property. A probate attorney can sort that out for a particular inventory.
Some property never reaches the referee because it does not pass through probate at all. Under Probate Code section 5302, money left in a joint account generally belongs to the surviving account holder. Money in a pay-on-death account goes to the named payee if that person is surviving. The court's self-help guide also notes that a person may have been named as a beneficiary on a retirement or bank account. A house held in a living trust is handled by the successor trustee, not through probate. A successor trustee is the person who takes over a trust after the person who created it dies. Whether a given house or account is in or out of probate turns on how title was held. A broader overview of property that may transfer outside probate walks through the common categories.
The referee's figure looks at value around the time of death, not today's price. A house that sells a year later for more, or less, does not change what the referee appraised.
The Inventory and Appraisal: How the Referee's Work Fits In
The Inventory and Appraisal is the court document that lists the probate property and its value. It is also where the referee's work becomes part of the case. It usually comes together in three steps.
- List the property. The personal representative prepares the inventory of what the person owned at death.
- Deliver it to the referee. Under Probate Code section 8902, the personal representative delivers the inventory to the designated referee "together with necessary supporting data" so the referee can appraise it.
- File the completed document. The finished Inventory and Appraisal is filed with the Superior Court handling the estate and becomes part of the court record.
Supporting data in practice means the details a stranger would need to value each item. That includes a property address, recent account statements, a vehicle's identifying details, and descriptions and photos of valuable belongings. Incomplete information tends to slow the referee down.
The inventory is due within a set period after the personal representative's appointment. The estate's attorney or the court can confirm the exact deadline for a given case. The step-by-step timing is laid out in more depth in the guide on probate inventory and appraisal.
The court can sometimes excuse the referee's appraisal. Under Probate Code section 8903, the court "may, for good cause, waive appraisal by a probate referee." The personal representative applies no later than delivering the inventory to the referee, if one has been designated, and attaches a proposed inventory and a statement of good cause. The hearing is set not sooner than 15 days after filing. Notice goes to the people the section lists, including affected heirs and devisees and the referee. The referee may oppose the waiver.
What the Referee's Fee Covers and How It Is Calculated
California fixes the referee's pay by statute, so it is not a negotiated price. Probate Code section 8961 provides that the referee receives:
"(a) A commission of one-tenth of one percent of the total value of the property for each estate appraised, subject to Section 8963. The commission shall be computed excluding property appraised by the personal representative pursuant to Section 8901 or by an independent expert pursuant to Section 8904. (b) Actual and necessary expenses for each estate appraised. The referee shall file with, or list on, the inventory and appraisal a verified account of the referee's expenses."
In plain terms, the commission is a small percentage of what the referee actually values. Anything the personal representative or an independent expert appraised is left out of the calculation. The percentage is tied to appraised value, not to a later sale price. The statute makes the commission subject to another provision, which an estate's attorney can explain for a particular estate, so the figure is generally, not always, one-tenth of one percent. The referee also recovers actual and necessary expenses and must list them on the inventory.
The fee is an expense of the estate. It is not a separate bill the executor pays personally. It is also distinct from other costs of a probate case, such as attorney fees, the personal representative's compensation and court filing fees. Families who want the fuller picture of how a case runs can find it in the California probate process overview.
When the Referee's Appraisal Matters Beyond the Courtroom
The referee's number does not stay in the court file. It often becomes the starting point for decisions the family makes months later about the house, the belongings and taxes. That is worth knowing for an heir who now owns part of a house and is weighing whether to keep, rent or sell it.
Income tax. Values at the date of death often matter when an heir later sells inherited property and works out a gain or loss. How federal basis rules apply to a given heir is a question for a CPA, an enrolled agent or a tax attorney. A documented, independent value gives that professional something solid to work from.
Property tax. A death can bring a reassessment question for California real estate. For transfers on or after February 16, 2021, Rev. & Tax. Code section 63.2 can exclude a parent's or grandparent's principal residence from reassessment. The grandparent route applies only if the grandchild's parents who are the grandparents' children have died. The exclusion requires that the house become the child's or grandchild's principal residence within one year. It also requires a homeowners' or disabled veterans' exemption filing within a year and a claim filed with the county assessor. The exclusion can be partial when market value equals or exceeds the prior taxable value plus $1,000,000. The assessor's office decides reassessment and exclusion claims, and the referee's figure is a separate court valuation. More on this appears in the guide on how probate affects real estate.
Fairness among heirs. When a will divides property in shares, or one heir keeps the house while others take other assets, a neutral value helps everyone measure the same thing.
If a family member believes a value is wrong and the disagreement cannot be resolved informally, it becomes a contested matter before the probate court. That is a different subject, handled by an attorney who litigates probate cases.
