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

How probate works in San Mateo County

Last verified: July 14, 2026

The short answer: If the person who died lived in San Mateo County, you file the Petition for Probate (form DE-111) with the Probate Division clerk at the Hall of Justice, 400 County Center in Redwood City. The filing fee is $435. Attorneys must e-file; if you are handling it yourself, you may file on paper. San Mateo runs a daily 9:00 a.m. probate calendar in one department (Department 13), posts tentative rulings by 3:00 p.m. the court day before your hearing, and defaults to non-appearance — a clean petition usually resolves without anyone going to court.

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 Mateo County probate at a glance

Where do you file probate in San Mateo County?

All Probate Code proceedings are filed and heard in Redwood City (Local Rule 4.1(F), local rules):

Hearings are in Department 13, Courtroom 2C. Ignore third-party sites pointing to 800 N. Humboldt St. in San Mateo — the court's own rules and live calendar put probate in Redwood City.

How much does it cost to file probate in San Mateo County?

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

How do you file the petition?

Attorneys have been required to e-file into probate cases since January 21, 2020, through the certified providers on Odyssey eFileCA. Self-represented parties "are exempt from any mandatory electronic filing requirements, but are permitted to and encouraged to electronically file" (Local Rule 2.1.7(c)).

Paper-only documents, even for attorneys (Local Rule 2.1.8(b)): original wills and codicils, certified death certificates, letters, and a handful of others must be filed conventionally. The original will must be lodged with the court before the hearing (petition documents checklist).

Unusually for the Bay Area, San Mateo lets you request your own hearing date on the moving papers — if it is unavailable, the clerk sets the next earliest date (Local Rule 4.2(B)).

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). San Mateo hears probate every weekday at 9:00 a.m. in Department 13, though "the regular probate calendar sets only a limited number of cases each day" (Local Rule 4.2).

Use the gap well. You must publish notice of the hearing in a newspaper within 30 days of the filing date (local form PR-13) and mail notice to heirs.

What are tentative rulings and how do you clear them?

San Mateo publishes Probate Department Tentative Rulings instead of "probate notes" — same function, different name.

What local quirks should an executor know?

• Non-appearance is the default: "All matters will be non-appearance except as stated in Rule 4.6 or where required by the court" (Local Rule 4.5(D)). File a clean petition and you may never see the courtroom.
• The five-court-day paper deadline does the work of other counties' "clear your notes" deadlines. Work backward from the hearing date.
• The proposed Order for Probate is due at least 7 days before the hearing (petition documents).
• Remote appearance is by Zoom video (audio-only only if video fails); check in with the clerk by 8:45 a.m. (Local Rule 4.2(D)).
• Venue is strict — the court does not accept consents to venue from other counties (Local Rule 4.1(F)).
• San Mateo uses a local form (PR-5) to request appointment of the probate referee who will appraise estate assets.

Can you skip probate entirely?

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