Last verified 2026-07-14 · every fact checked against the primary sources below

How probate works in San Diego County

Last verified: July 14, 2026

The short answer: If the person who died lived in San Diego County, you file the Petition for Probate (form DE-111) with the Probate Division at the Central Courthouse, 1100 Union St. in downtown San Diego. The filing fee is $435. Attorneys have been required to e-file since April 15, 2021 through Odyssey eFileCA providers; if you are handling it yourself, paper filing is allowed. Before the hearing, a probate examiner posts notes on your case in the online Register of Actions, and any response must be filed at least five court days before the hearing.

Before you file anything, check whether you need probate at all. The simplified paths at the bottom of this page skip the process entirely for many families.

Where you file

Probate for the whole county runs through the Central Courthouse. There is also a drop box in Vista for North County residents, but staff, examiners, and hearings are all downtown (sdcourt.ca.gov):

Phone: (619) 844-2676, answered 8:30 to 11:30 a.m., Monday to Friday. Mail all correspondence to the Central Courthouse, and include a self-addressed stamped envelope for anything you need back (sdcourt.ca.gov).

What it costs to file

If you e-file, the e-filing service provider charges its own convenience fee on top of the $435.

How you file

"Effective April 15, 2021, filings submitted by attorneys for represented parties in all probate actions must be submitted electronically through one of the court's approved electronic filing service providers (EFSPs)." The provider list lives on the Odyssey eFileCA website. E-filing "is also encouraged, but not mandated, for self-represented litigants" (SDSC form PR-188, rev. 12/25).

Details from the same court document worth knowing:

• Original wills and codicils cannot be e-filed. They must be filed in paper form, along with surety bonds and a few other categories.
• A document e-filed and accepted by 11:59:59 p.m. on a court day counts as filed that day.
• Each document must be its own PDF, and filings with multiple exhibits need bookmarks to each exhibit.

The court has a specific ritual for original wills: submit the will on a stiff backing, with the caption (for example, "Last Will and Testament of Jane Doe") on the right side margin, plus the deposit fee and a self-addressed stamped envelope for the receipt (sdcourt.ca.gov). The same page reminds you that whoever holds the will must deliver it to the court within 30 days of the death under Probate Code § 8200.

From filing to first hearing

State law says the hearing on the petition "shall be set for a day not less than 15 nor more than 30 days after the petition is filed," or 30 to 45 days out if you request it (Prob. Code § 8003). In practice, the department's calendar controls, and real dates often land further out. [TODO-VERIFY: current typical weeks from filing to first available hearing date in San Diego probate departments 501 to 504]

Use the gap well. You must publish notice of the hearing in a newspaper and mail notice to heirs before the hearing, and you should watch your probate notes as the date approaches.

Probate notes: how the court talks to you before the hearing

A probate examiner reviews your petition before the hearing and publishes Probate Notes listing any defects (sdcourt.ca.gov):

San Diego's five-court-day response deadline is earlier than most counties. Work backward from your hearing date and calendar it.

Local quirks an executor should know

• The Vista office is a drop box, not a service counter. Every question and every hearing goes through the Central Courthouse.
• Examiners take calls for only half an hour a day, 10:00 to 10:30 a.m. Email is the more reliable channel.
• The stiff-backing requirement for original wills is real, and the clerk will bounce a will without it.
• One caution about the court's own website: as of this page's verification date, the San Diego court's Wills, Estates and Trusts page still displays the pre-April-2025 small-estate figures ($184,500 and $166,250). Those numbers are outdated. The current thresholds below come from Judicial Council form DE-300, which controls.

Before you file: check the simplified paths

Formal probate is the expensive road. Two shortcuts cover many San Diego families, using the thresholds on Judicial Council form DE-300 (rev. April 2025) for deaths on or after April 1, 2025:

For what counts toward those numbers and what skips probate automatically, see our first-30-days guide.

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