Selling Real Property in a California Probate
A California probate sale of real property must clear two hurdles. The court will not confirm a private sale below 90 percent of a recent appraisal, and at the confirmation hearing any qualifying overbid must be accepted — 10 percent more on the first $10,000 and 5 percent on the rest.
The two rules that decide the price
Probate Code section 10309 sets a floor. No private sale of estate real property will be confirmed unless the property was appraised within one year before the confirmation hearing, the valuation date used in that appraisal falls within the same year, and the sum offered is at least ninety percent of the appraised value. Where the court is satisfied that the latest appraisal is too high or too low it can order a fresh one. Section 10311 then reopens the bidding in the courtroom. If a written offer is made to the court at the confirmation hearing, the court must accept it and confirm the sale to that offeror where three conditions hold: the offer exceeds the original bid by at least ten percent of the first ten thousand dollars and five percent of the amount above that, the offeror is a responsible person, and the offer complies with law. Where several qualify, the highest wins.
Sources: Probate Code s.10309 - Conditions for confirming a private sale of real property · Probate Code s.10311 - Overbid at the confirmation hearing · Verified 2026-08-20.
What an overbid has to beat
| Accepted offer | Minimum first overbid |
|---|---|
| $400,000 | $420,500 |
| $600,000 | $630,500 |
| $850,000 | $893,000 |
| $1,200,000 | $1,260,500 |
Ten percent of the first $10,000 plus five percent of the balance, per section 10311. The court keeps discretion to decline and order a new sale.
When notice must go out first
Authority under the Independent Administration of Estates Act removes the need for prior court approval of many sales, but it does not remove the need to tell anyone. Section 10580 requires notice of proposed action before acting without supervision where the empowering provision says so, and section 10581 fixes the list: each known devisee and each known heir whose interest would be affected, anyone who has filed for special notice, and the Attorney General where any part of the estate would escheat. A sale to the personal representative or their own attorney is never covered by that shortcut — section 10501 reserves it to the court regardless of the authority granted.
Why buyers and beneficiaries see this differently
To a buyer the overbid rule is a hazard: months of diligence can be undone by a stranger at a hearing. To a beneficiary it is a protection, and the reason an under-market sale to a friend of the executor rarely survives. Where a property was sold quickly, cheaply, and to someone connected to the representative, those are the facts a contested probate claim is built from, and surcharge is what recovers the difference.
Related: what else needs court approval, how the sale price affects the statutory fee, why a sale can require more bond, and where a sale sits in the timeline.