What Is a Heggstad Petition?

A Heggstad petition asks the probate court to confirm that an asset actually belongs to a trust even though title was never formally transferred into it. It takes its name from Estate of Heggstad, the 1993 California decision holding that a written declaration of trust identifying the property, commonly a schedule of assets attached to the trust, can itself make the trust the owner, no separate deed required.

Procedurally it is a petition under Probate Code section 850, heard in the probate department, supported by the trust instrument, the schedule or other writing showing the decedent's intent, and evidence about the asset. When it works, the family avoids an entire probate administration for the stray asset: the house that was refinanced and never deeded back to the trust is the classic example, and refinance-related title dropouts remain the most common trigger.

Heggstad petitions are routinely granted when the paper trail is clean, and contested when someone benefits from the asset staying outside the trust, since an asset that passes through the will or intestacy may go to different people than the trust would send it to. The strength of the written evidence of intent decides these fights.