What Is Probate in California?

Probate is the court-supervised administration of a deceased person's estate: proving the will if there is one, appointing an executor or administrator, collecting the assets, paying creditors and taxes, resolving disputes, and distributing what remains to the beneficiaries or heirs. In Los Angeles County these cases run through the probate department, including at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse downtown.

California probate is famously slow and expensive relative to trust administration. Statutory attorney and executor fees are set as percentages of the gross estate, and even routine administrations commonly take a year or more. Assets held in a funded living trust, in joint tenancy, or with beneficiary designations bypass probate entirely, and small estates under the statutory threshold can use simplified transfer procedures instead.

Litigation inside probate includes will contests, disputes over who should serve as personal representative, creditor claim fights, petitions over mismanaged or missing property, and heirship battles. The probate court also hears trust disputes, conservatorships, and Probate Code section 850 petitions to move property into or out of estates and trusts.