Small Estate Administration in California

Does the estate qualify?

Count only the property that would otherwise require probate. These are excluded from the $208,850 limit (Probate Code §13050):

• Property held in a living trust.
• Property held in joint tenancy, or that passes to a surviving spouse or registered domestic partner.
• Accounts and policies with a living payable-on-death or named beneficiary, including retirement accounts and life insurance.
• Vehicles, vessels and manufactured homes registered with the DMV or the Department of Housing and Community Development.
• Certain amounts owed to the decedent, such as unpaid salary up to a statutory amount.

Collecting personal property by declaration

At least 40 days after the death, the person entitled to the property — a beneficiary under the will, or an heir if there is no will — can present a declaration under Probate Code §13100–13101 to a bank, brokerage firm or other holder, with a certified copy of the death certificate. Once the requirements are met, the holder must release the property (§13105). No court filing is involved, but the declarant states under penalty of perjury that the estate qualifies and that no probate is pending.

Real property: three different routes

Real estate cannot be collected with the personal property declaration. Depending on value and timing:

• Petition to determine succession (Probate Code §13150–13152) — a short court petition, available when the estate is within the small-estate limit, filed at least 40 days after the death.
• Primary residence worth up to $750,000 — for deaths on or after April 1, 2025, a petition to determine succession can transfer the decedent’s primary residence to heirs or beneficiaries even when the home alone exceeds the general limit (§13151).
• Affidavit for real property of small value (§13200) — for real property below a much lower threshold, filed with the court no earlier than six months after the death and then recorded with the county recorder.

Property passing to a surviving spouse

Property that passes to a surviving spouse or registered domestic partner — community property, quasi-community property and separate property left to the spouse — passes without administration (Probate Code §13500). To give banks and title companies a court order confirming the transfer, the spouse can file a spousal property petition (§13650), which is available regardless of the estate’s size.

Vehicles, wages and other special assets

Vehicles are transferred through the DMV with its own affidavit for transfer without probate. A surviving spouse can collect certain unpaid salary owed to the decedent with a short declaration (Probate Code §13600). Retirement accounts and life insurance go to the named beneficiary; if the estate itself is the beneficiary, the account counts toward the small-estate limit.

Responsibilities of the person who collects

Collecting property by declaration does not end the matter. The person who receives it takes it subject to the decedent’s unsecured debts and is personally liable, up to the value received, to creditors and to anyone with a superior right to the property (Probate Code §13109–13112). Final bills, medical claims and taxes should be reviewed before anything is divided among family members.

When the small-estate route is a poor fit

Formal probate may still be the better choice when heirs disagree, when creditors’ claims are significant, when the will is unclear or contested, when assets must be sold under court supervision, or when someone needs letters to pursue or defend a lawsuit for the estate. Probate’s creditor period also cuts off late claims, which the declaration procedure does not.

Medi-Cal estate recovery

If the decedent received Medi-Cal benefits after age 55 or while in a nursing facility, the Department of Health Care Services may make a claim against the estate. California limits recovery to property subject to probate, and recovery can be waived or deferred in some circumstances, such as when there is a surviving spouse or a hardship. The claim should be addressed before property is distributed.

Planning so the next estate is simpler

Families who use the small-estate procedures often discover assets that could have passed directly — a bank account without a payable-on-death beneficiary, a car, a small parcel of land. A funded living trust and current beneficiary designations let the next generation avoid both probate and the declaration process.