The California probate timeline, step by step.

Probate is the court process for transferring a person’s property after death when there’s no trust (or the trust doesn’t cover everything). In California it runs through the Superior Court of the county where the person lived, and it runs on the court’s calendar, which is the part nobody warns you about.

1. Filing the petition

Someone, usually the person named in the will or a close relative, files a Petition for Probate with the county’s probate court. The base court filing fee is $435 statewide, and some counties add local surcharges. The court sets a hearing date, typically several weeks out depending on the county’s calendar.

2. Notice, hearing, and Letters

Notice of the hearing is published and mailed to heirs. If nobody objects and the paperwork is clean, the court appoints a personal representative and issues “Letters”: the document that gives them legal authority to act. Paperwork problems are flagged in the court’s probate notes before the hearing; clearing them early is the single best way to keep your date.

3. The four-month creditor window

Once Letters issue, creditors get four months to file claims against the estate. This window is statutory: the estate generally can’t close before it runs, which is why even a simple, uncontested California probate lasts the better part of a year.

4. Inventory and appraisal

The representative files an Inventory & Appraisal of estate assets, generally due within four months of Letters. Real property is valued by a court-appointed probate referee, not by a real-estate agent’s opinion.

5. Selling the house, if the estate sells

Whether the house can be sold before the estate closes depends on the representative’s authority. With full authority under the Independent Administration of Estates Act, the representative can usually sell with notice to heirs but without a court hearing. With limited authority, the sale is confirmed in court, and in some counties the confirmation hearing includes open overbidding, where competing buyers can raise the price on the spot. That’s not a bug; it can only raise what the estate receives.

6. Accounting and distribution

After the creditor window closes and taxes and debts are handled, the representative petitions for final distribution. The court approves the accounting, assets distribute, and the estate closes. Statutory fees for the representative and attorney are set by the Probate Code as percentages of the estate: 4% of the first $100,000, 3% of the next $100,000, 2% of the next $800,000, and down from there.

How long, all in?

A clean, uncontested probate with a house in it typically runs nine months to eighteen. Contested estates, lost heirs, or title problems run longer. The court is rarely the villain: the calendar is simply the calendar, and the estates that move fastest are the ones whose paperwork clears the examiner’s notes the first time.

Sources: California Probate Code §§8000–12252 (petition, letters, creditor claims, inventory) and §10810 (statutory fees), at leginfo.legislature.ca.gov; filing fee per Government Code §70650; California Courts self-help guide at selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/probate. Checked August 2026. This is general information, not legal advice. Probate practice varies by county, and a probate attorney is the right person for your specifics.