Last verified 2026-07-13 · every fact checked against the primary sources below

Your parent died in California. Here is everything, in order.

Last verified: July 13, 2026

The short answer: In the first week, your only jobs are the funeral home, ordering about 10 certified death certificates, and making sure Social Security is told. In the first month, you find the will, protect the property, and figure out one question: is the estate small enough to skip probate (under $208,850 in countable assets for deaths on or after April 1, 2025)? Everything else can wait.

Nothing here is urgent in the first few days except caring for yourself and your family. The estate can wait a week. It cannot wait six months.

Days 1–7: the immediate steps

1. Work with the funeral home. They handle the body, file the death certificate with the county, and — if you give them your parent's Social Security number — report the death to the Social Security Administration for you (usa.gov).

2. Order certified copies of the death certificate. You will need one for almost every institution: each bank, each insurance policy, the DMV, real estate, sometimes utilities. Order 8–10 copies up front; ordering more later is slower and no cheaper per copy.

California restricts full "authorized" certified copies to close family and legal representatives; others receive an informational copy. Mail processing times at CDPH vary — [TODO-VERIFY: current CDPH mail processing time] — which is why the county recorder is usually the better route.

3. Secure the home and the mail. Lock the house, take in valuables, keep paying insurance on the property. Submit a mail-forwarding request with USPS if the home will be empty.

4. Do not pay the deceased's bills from your own money yet. Most debts are paid from the estate, in a legally defined order. Paying personally, out of guilt or panic, is a common and avoidable mistake.

Days 7–30: who must be notified, in order

If your parent received VA benefits, notify the Department of Veterans Affairs at 1-800-827-1000.

Each bank has its own process. We keep step-by-step guides per institution — see, for example, how to close a Chase account when the owner dies and how to report a death to Social Security.

The one big question: will there be probate?

Probate is the court process for transferring a dead person's assets. In California it is slow and expensive, so the first real task is finding out whether you can avoid it.

Many assets skip probate automatically, regardless of size (Prob. Code § 13050):

• Anything in a living trust
• Joint tenancy property (including most jointly owned homes)
• Accounts with a named beneficiary or payable-on-death designation
• Life insurance and retirement accounts with beneficiaries
• Vehicles and vessels registered with the DMV (these transfer through a separate DMV process)
• Salary owed to the deceased, up to $20,875

What is left over is the "probate estate." Whether it needs court depends on its value at the date of death. The thresholds adjust every three years; the current figures come from Judicial Council form DE-300 (rev. April 2025):

The next scheduled adjustment is April 1, 2028 (DE-300).

If the countable estate is $208,850 or less: no probate. After waiting 40 days from the death, heirs collect bank accounts and other personal property with a small-estate affidavit under Probate Code § 13100 — a signed declaration presented directly to each bank, with a certified death certificate and a copy of form DE-300 attached.

If the main asset is the family home: since April 1, 2025, a primary residence worth up to $750,000 can pass through a simplified court petition (form DE-310) instead of full probate (DE-300). This is much faster and cheaper than formal probate, though it still involves the court.

Otherwise: formal probate. Keep reading.

If you are the executor: your first moves

1. Find the will. Check the house, the safe, and ask their attorney. California law requires whoever holds the will to deliver it to the superior court clerk of the county where the person lived within 30 days of learning of the death. [TODO-VERIFY: current Prob. Code § 8200 lodging deadline and fee]
2. Get appointed before you act. Being named executor in the will gives you no legal power until the court issues Letters Testamentary. Do not distribute anything, sell anything, or promise anything before that.
3. File the Petition for Probate (form DE-111) in the superior court of the county where your parent lived. The filing fee is typically $435 (California Courts Self-Help).
4. Open an estate bank account once you have Letters and an estate EIN from the IRS. All estate money flows through it — never your personal account.
5. Keep records of everything. Every receipt, every payment, every mile driven. The court will eventually ask for an accounting.

What formal probate costs: the statutory fee math

California sets attorney and executor fees for ordinary probate work as a percentage of the gross estate — the appraised value of assets, not reduced by mortgages or debts (Prob. Code § 10800, § 10810):

The attorney gets this fee, and the executor is entitled to the same amount again.

Worked example — a $1,000,000 estate (say, a house appraised at $900,000 plus $100,000 in accounts, even with a large mortgage on the house):

That is $23,000 to the attorney and up to $23,000 to the executor — $46,000 total — before court costs, appraisal fees, and any "extraordinary" fees the court approves. An executor who is also an heir often waives their fee (the fee is taxable income; an inheritance is not — confirm with a tax advisor).

A realistic timeline

Formal probate in California typically takes 9 to 18 months, and can take longer (California Courts Self-Help).

Nothing meaningful can be distributed to heirs until near the end. Plan family finances around that.

The mistakes that cost the most

• Distributing money to family before debts, taxes, and the creditor period are resolved — the executor is personally liable for shortfalls.
• Missing property insurance lapses on an empty house.
• Ordering too few death certificates and stalling every institution at once.
• Assuming a will avoids probate. It does not. Only trusts, beneficiary designations, joint title, and the small-estate procedures avoid probate.

The Estate Desk handles this for California families. theestatedesk.com