Do You Need Probate in California?
Full probate administration is generally needed for California property held in the decedent's sole name without a beneficiary or another transfer procedure. A will directs who inherits but does not itself avoid administration. Trust assets, survivorship property and beneficiary-designated accounts ordinarily transfer outside full probate.
This is the question that decides everything that follows, and the word probate is often doing two jobs. Full probate administration appoints a personal representative and supervises an estate through distribution. California also has narrower court petitions that transfer particular property without full administration. Start with how each asset was titled on the day of death, then test the exact requirements of the procedure that may apply.
Why the will is not the answer
The common belief is that probate exists to transfer title, and that a will avoids it. Neither is what the Probate Code says. Section 7000 provides that title to a decedent’s property passes on death to the person to whom it is devised in the decedent’s will or, absent a devise, to the decedent’s heirs under intestate succession. The transfer has already happened before any petition is filed. Section 7001 supplies what administration is actually for: the decedent’s property is subject to administration under the code, and subject to the rights of beneficiaries, creditors and other persons as provided by law. Administration is the process by which those competing claims are identified, tested and cleared, so that what a beneficiary already owns in principle becomes something they can sell, refinance or register in practice. A will tells the court who takes. It does nothing about whether the clearing process is needed — that is decided by how the asset was held.
Sources: Probate Code s.7000 - Title passes at death to devisees or heirs · Probate Code s.7001 - Property remains subject to administration · Probate Code s.8000 - Petition commencing administration · Verified 2026-08-21.
Work through it asset by asset
| How the asset was held | Full administration? | What happens instead |
|---|---|---|
| Titled in the name of a living trust | No | Trust administration, privately, by the successor trustee |
| Joint tenancy, or community property with right of survivorship | No | Affidavit of death clears title to the survivor |
| Retirement account, life insurance, payable-on-death account | No | Paid to the named beneficiary on production of a death certificate |
| Real property under a recorded transfer on death deed | No | Passes outside the estate |
| Sole name, passing to a surviving spouse or registered partner | Usually not full administration | Spousal property petition may apply without a dollar limit |
| Qualifying property within the adjusted section 13100 calculation | Usually not full administration | Affidavit after 40 days, if every statutory condition is met |
| Sole name, qualifying California primary residence at or under $750,000 | Not full administration | Petition for succession; it remains a court proceeding |
| Meant for the trust but never retitled | Fact-dependent | Section 850 petition may confirm it into the trust if the evidence supports trust ownership |
| Sole name, no beneficiary or applicable shortcut | Generally yes | Full probate administration |
| California property, decedent domiciled elsewhere | Fact-dependent | Ancillary administration may be needed; a qualifying transfer procedure can still apply |
The two thresholds, and the trap in both
Two dollar limits do much of the work of avoiding full administration, and both changed for deaths on or after April 1, 2025. Under Probate Code section 13100, after 40 days, a successor may collect particular items of personal property without letters or awaiting probate of the will when the adjusted gross-value calculation is no more than $208,850. That calculation excludes property described in section 13050 and property included in a section 13151 petition, so it is not simply a total of every asset the decedent owned. Section 13151 separately permits a court petition for a qualifying California primary residence with a gross value no more than $750,000. Gross value is measured before deducting liens: a residence appraised at $900,000 with $700,000 owing remains over the residence limit despite $200,000 of equity.
Sources: Probate Code s.13100 - Small estate affidavit, collection without administration · Maximum Amounts for Determining Eligibility for Summary Succession Procedures (Prob. Code s.890) · Form DE-300 - Maximum Values for Small Estate Set-Aside and Disposition Without Administration · Probate Code s.13151 - Petition to determine succession to a primary residence · Probate Code s.13152 - Contents of the section 13151 petition · Verified 2026-08-21.
If the answer is yes
Full administration is not a disaster, but it is a year of work and a statutory bill. Compensation for ordinary services is fixed rather than negotiated, and the estate pays it twice — once to the personal representative and once to the attorney — on gross inventory value. The fee calculator returns the figure for a given estate, and the fee schedule explains how it is built. On timing, most uncontested estates run nine to eighteen months. Opening the case is the first step, and the first weeks come before even that.
If the answer is no
Avoiding probate is not the same as having nothing to do. A successor trustee still has to serve notice, value the assets, pay the debts and account, all under the duties set out in the Trust Law. A spousal property petition still needs a hearing. And an affidavit under section 13100 makes the person who signs it liable to anyone with a better right to the property. The shortcuts save a year and a statutory fee; they do not remove the obligation to get it right.
The mistake that creates most of the work
A common reason a California family ends up in probate it expected to avoid is a trust that was signed and never fully funded — the document exists, but the house is still in the decedent’s own name. Where the evidence proves the property belongs to the trust, a section 850 petition may confirm it without full administration; an objection or weak ownership evidence can make that proceeding longer or unsuccessful. Comparing the deed’s vesting with the trust and its schedules is therefore one of the most useful checks in the first month.
The Probate Code sections behind this page
Each section links to its official text at the California Legislature’s own site. The full index of sections covers the rest of the Code.
Also cited above, explained elsewhere on this site
- Probate Code section 7000
- Title passes at death to devisees or heirs. Where section 7000 is explained
- Probate Code section 7001
- Property remains subject to administration. Where section 7001 is explained
- Probate Code section 13100
- Small estate affidavit, collection without administration. Where section 13100 is explained
- Probate Code section 13151
- Petition to determine succession to a primary residence. Where section 13151 is explained