What is the California limit for succession to real property?

Probate Code section 13151 sets it at $750,000 gross value for the decedent's primary residence in California, adjusted periodically under section 890. The figure was set by AB 2016, effective January 2025.

How is this different from the small estate affidavit?

The section 13100 affidavit covers money, tangible personal property and evidence of debts up to $208,850 for deaths on or after 1 April 2025, and it is not a court proceeding. Section 13151 is a petition to the court, it reaches real property, and it applies only to the decedent's primary residence.

How long do I have to wait?

Forty days from the date of death, the same waiting period as the small estate affidavit.

What does the petition have to state?

Section 13152 requires it to be verified and to state the facts establishing the proper county, that the gross value shown by an attached inventory and appraisal is within the limit, a description of the property and the facts showing it was the primary residence, and the basis for the claim that it passes to the petitioner.

Claiming a Primary Residence Without Probate

California lets a successor claim a decedent's primary residence without full probate. Under Probate Code section 13151 the home must be worth no more than $750,000 gross, forty days must have passed, and the successor petitions the court for an order determining they succeeded to it.

A modest single-storey California house seen from the street in flat afternoon light, blinds drawn. — The affidavit route stops well short of a California house. This one was written for exactly that gap.

The gap this fills

For years the small estate procedures were useless against the asset most California families actually inherit. The section 13100 affidavit tops out at $208,850 and does not reach real property at all, which in a state where the median home costs several times that meant almost every estate with a house went through full administration. AB 2016 changed that from January 2025 by creating a dedicated route for the primary residence, at a threshold set high enough to matter.

What section 13151 provides

Probate Code section 13151 applies where a decedent dies leaving real property that was their primary residence in this state and the gross value of that property does not exceed seven hundred fifty thousand dollars, as adjusted periodically under section 890. Once forty days have elapsed since the death, the successor to an interest in that property may — without procuring letters of administration and without awaiting probate of the will — file a petition in the superior court of the county where the estate would be administered, asking for an order determining that they have succeeded to the property. The section carries a notice obligation that is easy to miss: a successor who files must deliver notice of the petition to each heir and devisee named in it within five business days of filing. Section 13152 then sets out what the verified petition must contain, including an attached inventory and appraisal establishing the gross value.

Sources: Probate Code s.13151 - Petition to determine succession to a primary residence · Probate Code s.13152 - Contents of the section 13151 petition · Maximum Amounts for Determining Eligibility for Summary Succession Procedures (Prob. Code s.890) · Probate Code s.13100 - Small estate affidavit, collection without administration · Form DE-300 - Maximum Values for Small Estate Set-Aside and Disposition Without Administration · Verified 2026-08-22.

Which route applies to which asset

Route	Limit	Reaches	Court?
§13100 affidavit	$208,850 gross	Money, tangible property, evidence of debts	No
§13151 petition	$750,000 gross	Primary residence only	Yes
§13650 spousal petition	None	Property passing to a surviving spouse	Yes
Full administration	None	Everything	Yes

Gross value, and why it decides everything

As with the rest of California probate, the test is gross. Section 13152 measures the value shown by the inventory and appraisal, so a residence appraised at eight hundred thousand with a six hundred thousand dollar mortgage is over the limit even though the equity is two hundred thousand. Getting the appraisal right therefore decides which procedure is available, and a probate referee’s valuation is the figure the court will work from.

Primary residence, not any property

The section is limited to the home the decedent actually lived in. A rental, a vacation property, raw land, or a second home does not qualify however modest its value — those still need administration or another route. Where the decedent owned both a residence within the limit and other real property, the petition can clear the residence while the rest is administered.

The five-day notice is a real trap

Delivering notice to each heir and devisee named in the petition within five business days of filing is an obligation with a short fuse, and it is the sort of step a self-represented petitioner discovers late. Missing it does not usually end the matter, but it delays a procedure whose entire value is speed.