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

How probate works in Santa Clara County

Last verified: July 14, 2026

The short answer: If the person who died lived in Santa Clara County, you file the Petition for Probate (form DE-111) with the Probate Division at the Downtown Superior Court, 191 N. First St. in San Jose. The filing fee is $435. Attorneys must e-file through an Odyssey eFileCA provider; if you are handling it yourself, you can file at the probate clerk's office in Room 107. Santa Clara has one unusual habit: you leave the hearing date blank when you file, and the court picks it for you. Before the hearing, the court posts an Advance Case Status Report on your case, generally two court days out.

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 is heard at one courthouse (santaclara.courts.ca.gov):

Courthouse	Address	Clerk's office	Hours	Phone
Downtown Superior Court (DTS)	191 N. First St., San Jose, CA 95113	Room 107	Building open Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.	Probate: (408) 882-2654

The building also handles civil and small claims cases (santaclara.courts.ca.gov). The court's self-help center offers appointments with a probate staff attorney at (408) 882-2100 if you are representing yourself.

What it costs to file

Item	Fee	Source
First-filed Petition for Probate (letters testamentary or letters of administration)	$435	Gov. Code § 70650(a), statewide civil fee schedule effective Jan. 1, 2026
Santa Clara County surcharge	None	The statewide schedule adds local courthouse-construction surcharges only in Riverside, San Bernardino, and San Francisco counties

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

How you file

E-filing "for all attorney represented parties in Civil, Family, and Probate cases is now mandatory" in Santa Clara County, through the service providers listed on Odyssey eFileCA (santaclara.courts.ca.gov). Since September 17, 2021, attorneys must also e-file probate ex parte petitions. Self-represented parties can file in person at Room 107 or e-file voluntarily.

The county's distinctive filing instruction: when you e-file a probate petition, "please leave the hearing information blank (Date, Time, and Department) and indicate any dates that you are unavailable in the comments section of the e-filing" (santaclara.courts.ca.gov). The clerk assigns your hearing date and department, then the conformed copy comes back with the date filled in.

[TODO-VERIFY: whether Santa Clara requires the original will to be lodged in paper and the exact procedure; the court's e-filing page lists hard-copy exceptions but does not address wills]

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 court sets the date from its own calendar when it accepts your filing, and real dates often land further out. [TODO-VERIFY: current typical weeks from filing to first available hearing date in the Santa Clara Probate Division]

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 for the court's pre-hearing report as the date approaches.

Probate notes: the Advance Case Status Report (ACSR)

Santa Clara's version of probate notes is the Advance Case Status Report. The court posts ACSRs for cases on the General Probate and Administration of Estate calendars "generally two court days before the scheduled hearing, and no later than 5:00pm on the court day before the scheduled hearing" (santaclara.courts.ca.gov).

What to know	Detail
Where to find them	Posted as PDFs by hearing day and calendar on the ACSR page
Pre-approved	"Pre-approved matters are those that have been reviewed and found satisfactory by the Court before the date set for hearing. Personal appearance by the petitioning party is not required on pre-approved matters"
Not pre-approved	The ACSR "will include Probate Examiner notes listing procedural deficiencies" that must be addressed

The timing is the trap. Unlike Los Angeles or San Diego, where notes appear well before the hearing, Santa Clara's report may land only two court days out. File your petition complete and correct the first time, and check the ACSR page the moment your hearing week arrives.

Local quirks an executor should know

Leave the hearing date, time, and department blank on your petition and let the court set them. Note your unavailable dates in the e-filing comments.
If your matter shows as pre-approved on the ACSR, you do not need to show up. That is the reward for a clean petition.
With the report posted so close to the hearing, there is little time to file a fix. Deficiencies usually mean a continuance, which costs you weeks.
The probate clerk answers phones on a limited schedule at (408) 882-2654, and the self-help center books probate staff attorney appointments through (408) 882-2100.

Before you file: check the simplified paths

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

If	Then
The probate estate is $208,850 or less	No probate. After 40 days, collect assets with a small-estate affidavit under Probate Code §§ 13100 to 13101
The main asset is the primary residence, worth $750,000 or less	A simplified court petition (form DE-310) instead of full probate

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

The Estate Desk settles California estates for a flat fee: the paperwork, the institutions, the follow-up, carried for you.
Check in 2 minutes whether you need probate at all