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

How probate works in San Francisco County

Last verified: July 14, 2026

The short answer: If the person who died lived in San Francisco, you file the Petition for Probate (form DE-111) at the Civic Center Courthouse, 400 McAllister St. — Room 103, filing windows 23 to 25. The filing fee is $450, not the usual $435, because San Francisco adds a $50 courthouse-construction surcharge with an offset. E-filing is mandatory for represented parties; self-represented filers are exempt. Before the hearing, a probate examiner reviews your petition: clean petitions are "pre-granted" and no one has to appear, while defects must be cured at least seven 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.

San Francisco probate at a glance

Where do you file probate in San Francisco?

Everything happens at one courthouse (sf.courts.ca.gov):

Probate matters are heard in Department 204 (sf.courts.ca.gov).

How much does it cost to file probate in San Francisco?

San Francisco is one of only three California counties where the first probate filing costs more than $435:

One caution: the fee PDFs posted on the San Francisco court's own site are outdated (one dates to 2010 and shows $410). The statewide schedule above controls. If you e-file, the provider's convenience fee comes on top.

How do you file the petition?

Probate is a mandatory e-filing case type in San Francisco: "In all Designated Cases, all papers to be filed must be E-Filed" (Local Rule 2.11(C), LRSF effective July 1, 2026). Self-represented parties are excluded from the requirement but may e-file voluntarily.

E-filing runs through File & ServeXpress, the court's e-filing manager, via an approved service provider (sf.courts.ca.gov). Probate e-filing questions go to [email protected].

Two filing-time requirements worth knowing: a proposed order must accompany the petition (submitting it fewer than 10 court days before the hearing risks a continuance, Local Rule 14.7(A)), and hearing dates are assigned by the filing clerk when you file — "hearing dates are not given by telephone" (Local Rule 14.3).

How long until the 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). Decedents' estate calendars run Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. in Department 204.

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 the tentative rulings as the date approaches.

What are examiner notes and how do you clear them?

A probate examiner reviews every petition before the hearing. If it is unopposed and clean, it is pre-granted — "no appearance of any party will be necessary" (Local Rule 14.6(A)). Otherwise the examiner posts notes or a tentative ruling listing the defects.

What local quirks should an executor know?

• The cure deadline is early: seven court days before the hearing, among the longest lead times in the state. Watch the tentative rulings the week after you file, not the week of the hearing.
• Remote appearance is easy for routine matters: any non-evidentiary probate proceeding can be attended by video or phone without advance forms (Local Rule 14.1(C)); Department 204 publishes a standing Zoom link.
• No court reporter is provided for probate — arrange (and pay for) a private reporter if you want a transcript (Local Rule 14.2).
• San Francisco requires a local confidential supplement with the personal representative's birth date and driver's license number (wills and decedents' estates page).
• The court's self-help ACCESS Center does not assist with decedents' estates; for form-level help, use the statewide guide at selfhelp.courts.ca.gov or get help elsewhere.

Can you skip probate entirely?

Formal probate is the expensive road. Two shortcuts cover many San Francisco 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