How to Avoid Probate in California (2026 Guide)

What probate actually reaches

Probate is the court process for property that was in the decedent's own name when they died and has no other way to pass. It does not reach property held in a revocable trust, property held in joint tenancy, accounts with a surviving payee or beneficiary, or vehicles and certain registered property. Probate Code §13050 lists these and excludes them when the court or a bank decides whether an estate is small enough for the simplified procedures. So the work of avoiding probate is mostly about title: who owns each asset on paper, and what that paper says should happen at death.

Probate is costly when it does happen. The executor and the executor's attorney are each entitled to a statutory fee on the gross value of the estate, debts and mortgages not subtracted (§§10800, 10810), and the first petition costs $435 to file ($450 in Riverside and San Francisco counties). We explain the full fee schedule, extraordinary fees and the referee's commission in California probate fees, and you can run your own numbers in the probate cost calculator.

Every way to avoid probate in California, compared

Limits are for deaths on or after April 1, 2025, as published by the Judicial Council under Probate Code §890. The next adjustment is scheduled for April 1, 2028.

Revocable living trust: covers what you put in it

Probate Code §15200 lets you create a trust by declaring that you hold your own property as trustee. You stay in control as trustee during your life, and a successor trustee you choose takes over at your death or incapacity. Because the trust, not you personally, holds title, the trust assets are outside the probate estate and are excluded from the small estate count by §13050(a)(1).

When a trust fails

• It was never funded. A trust controls only what is titled in its name. A house still deeded to you individually goes through probate unless it qualifies for the §13151 petition. If the trust document shows you meant the asset to be in the trust, for example by listing it on the trust's schedule of assets, the successor trustee can petition the court under Probate Code §850 to confirm it, but that is a court case with its own filing and hearing.
• Assets bought later stay outside. A home refinanced out of the trust, or an account opened after the trust was signed, needs to be put back in or given a beneficiary.
• It is not a creditor shield. While you can revoke the trust, its property is reachable by your creditors (Probate Code §18200).

Our trust is $400 for one person or $500 for a married couple. Keeping a home out of probate costs a $400 trust plus $100 deed. The $75 SB 2 fee is usually not charged on a deed moving your own home into your trust because the owner-occupier exemption is claimed on the deed; it is charged on rentals and other property (Government Code §27388.1(a)(2)). The transfer into your own revocable trust is not a change in ownership for property tax (Revenue and Taxation Code §62(d)). The deed steps are in how to avoid probate on a house in California, and the asset-by-asset retitling is in how to fund a living trust.

Joint tenancy and community property with right of survivorship

Civil Code §683 creates a joint tenancy when the deed or transfer expressly says so. When one joint tenant dies, the survivor owns the whole property without probate; the survivor records an affidavit of death with the county recorder (Probate Code §210). Spouses and registered domestic partners can instead hold community property "with right of survivorship" under Civil Code §682.1, which passes to the survivor "without administration" the same way and only for property whose deed or title uses that wording.

When survivorship fails

• The last owner dies. Survivorship only postpones the question. When the surviving owner dies, the property is in that person's estate and needs a trust, a TOD deed or probate.
• Both owners die together. If no one can prove by clear and convincing evidence who survived, Probate Code §223 divides the property in half, and each half is handled as part of each owner's estate. A couple who die in the same accident can leave two probates instead of none.
• Adding a child to title gives the child a share now. The child's creditors, divorce or refusal to sign can affect the property while you are alive, and there can be property tax and income tax consequences. We cover those in joint tenancy vs living trust.

Transfer on death deed

A revocable TOD deed (Probate Code §5614) names who receives your home when you die, and you can revoke it while you are alive. It applies to a parcel with one to four residential units or a unit in a common interest development, and not to agricultural land over 40 acres (§5610). For deeds signed since January 1, 2022, it is effective only if it is signed and dated, signed by two witnesses who were present at the same time, and acknowledged before a notary (§5624), and it must be recorded within 60 days after the notarization (§5626). After the death, the beneficiary serves notice on the heirs (§5681), then records an affidavit of death and an affidavit that the notice was served; only then is a buyer or lender protected in dealing with the property (§5682).

When a TOD deed fails

• The beneficiary dies first. The beneficiary's interest lapses (§5652(a)(2)). If that was the only beneficiary, the home goes back to your estate. With two or more, a lapsed share goes to the others.
• It is not executed or recorded on time. A deed without the two witnesses, or recorded more than 60 days after it was notarized, is not effective.
• It covers only the home and only your share. A co-owner needs a separate deed. Bank accounts and other assets need their own designations, and nothing in the deed lets anyone manage the home if you become incapacitated.
• Debts follow the house. Each beneficiary is personally liable for your unsecured debts to the extent §5674 allows (§5672).
• The statute has a sunset. The TOD deed law is set to be repealed January 1, 2032, unless the Legislature extends it; deeds executed before then stay valid (§5600(c)).

More on the form itself in our California transfer on death deed guide.

POD accounts, TOD registration and beneficiary designations

These are the cheapest tools because they cost nothing to set up: you fill in a form at the bank, brokerage, plan administrator or insurer. Probate Code §5000 confirms that these nonprobate transfers are valid even though they are not signed like a will. At the death of the sole owner, a POD account belongs to the surviving payees (§5302(b)), and securities registered in beneficiary form pass to the surviving beneficiaries (§5507). Vehicle Code §4150.7 lets a sole vehicle owner name one TOD beneficiary on the title, for a $10 fee. A POD payee designation on a bank account cannot be changed by your will (§5302(e)).

When designations fail

• No named beneficiary survives you. If no POD payee or TOD beneficiary is alive, the account belongs to your estate (§§5302, 5507).
• Your estate is named as the beneficiary. The money then passes through probate with everything else.
• A minor is named. A parent can collect only up to $5,000 for a child without a guardianship (§3401). Larger amounts generally need a court-appointed guardian of the estate unless a custodian or a trust is named to receive them.
• You divorced and never changed the form. Under California law a revocable designation in favor of a former spouse generally fails at your death (§5040), and the asset passes as if the former spouse had died first, which may send it to your estate. The rule does not apply to life insurance policies (§5040(e)). Change the form rather than rely on that rule.

After a death: the small estate procedures

If someone died without planning, the family may still avoid a full probate when the property left in the decedent's own name is small. Values are gross California values, and §13050 property (trust, joint tenancy, POD and beneficiary assets, vehicles) is left out of the count.

• Personal property, when the estate is $208,850 or less (§13100). Real property counts toward the limit. Forty days after the death, the heirs can collect bank accounts, securities and other personal property with a signed affidavit. No court filing.
• Real property up to $69,625 (§13200). Six months after the death, an affidavit is filed with the superior court. This is for all California real property combined.
• Primary residence up to $750,000 (§13151). Forty days after the death, an heir can petition the superior court for an order that the home passes to them. The petition costs $435 ($450 in Riverside and San Francisco counties), and notice must go to the heirs and devisees within five business days of filing. This limit applies only to the decedent's primary residence, and only for deaths on or after April 1, 2025; rentals and second homes do not qualify.
• Property going to a surviving spouse (§§13500, 13540, 13650). Property left to a spouse by will or by intestacy passes without administration. After 40 days the surviving spouse can deal with community real property (§13540), and a spousal property petition under §13650 ($435) gets a court order confirming that the property passes to the spouse.

These procedures have their own forms and conditions. Our small estate affidavit guide walks through them.

Three California examples

A $900,000 home left in one name

A widow in Pasadena owns her home, appraised at $900,000, in her own name. Her checking account names her daughter as POD payee and her car is titled to her alone. At her death the checking account goes to her daughter under §5302, and the car is not counted for the small estate limits (§13050(b)). The home is over $750,000, so the §13151 petition is not available and it needs a full probate in Los Angeles County Superior Court. On a $900,000 gross value, the statutory attorney fee is $21,000 under §10810 (4% of $100,000, 3% of $100,000 and 2% of $700,000), and the executor may take the same under §10800, for $42,000 together. The $435 filing fee and a probate referee's commission of about $900 (§8961) come on top. With a funded trust the home passes by successor trustee for a $400 trust plus $100 deed. Our Pasadena living trust page covers the local court and recorder.

A married couple holding title as joint tenants

A couple in Burbank holds their home as joint tenants. If one dies, the other owns it outright with no probate. If both die in the same accident and the order of death cannot be proven by clear and convincing evidence, §223 sends half the home into each spouse's estate. Unless each half fits a small estate procedure, that means probate. A joint trust holding the home avoids this, because the successor trustee takes over no matter who died first.

A renter with accounts

A Sacramento renter dies with a $150,000 brokerage account and $20,000 in savings, neither with a beneficiary, and a car. The countable estate is $170,000, under the $208,850 limit, so the heirs can collect both accounts by §13100 affidavit after 40 days. Had the brokerage account been worth $200,000, the countable total of $220,000 would be over the limit and the estate would need probate. A TOD registration on the brokerage account, which costs nothing, would have passed it straight to the beneficiary (§5507), leaving only the $20,000 savings for the affidavit.

Which combination fits you

• You own a home, alone or with a spouse. A funded trust with the home deeded into it, and beneficiary designations on retirement accounts. If you are married, see community property estate planning for how a joint trust treats each spouse's share.
• You rent and own only accounts. POD and TOD designations on every account, and the trust named where a beneficiary is a minor.
• You own one home worth more than $750,000 and want the lowest up-front cost. A TOD deed can work if the beneficiaries are adults who will very likely outlive you, but plan separately for incapacity.
• You have minor children. Name the trust, not the children, as beneficiary, and nominate a guardian; see naming a guardian for minor children.
• You own real estate in another state. Land in another state is generally probated in that state, a second proceeding your trust can avoid if the land is deeded into it; see out-of-state property and your California trust.

What to do next

1. List every asset with how it is titled today and whether it has a beneficiary.
2. Mark anything in your own name with no beneficiary. That is your probate estate.
3. Decide which tool fits each item using the table above, and remember that only a trust also covers incapacity.
4. If you choose a trust, sign it, then deed the home into it and retitle or redesignate accounts the same month.
5. Check your designations again after a marriage, divorce, death in the family, or a refinance.

Start your living trust: $400

Sources

Checked October 6, 2026. Statute text was read at a public mirror of leginfo (california.public.law, verified October 5, 2026) because leginfo blocks automated reads; the links below go to the official leginfo pages.

1. Maximum Amounts for Determining Eligibility for Summary Succession Procedures (Probate Code §890 adjustments), Judicial Council of California
2. Statewide Civil Fee Schedule effective January 1, 2026 (items 124, 144, 145), Judicial Council of California
3. Probate Code §13050
4. Probate Code §13100
5. Probate Code §13151
6. Probate Code §13200
7. Probate Code §13500, §13540 and §13650
8. Probate Code §15200 and §18200
9. Probate Code §850
10. Probate Code §223
11. Civil Code §683 and §682.1
12. Probate Code §5600, §5610, §5614, §5624, §5626, §5652, §5672, §5681 and §5682 (revocable transfer on death deed)
13. Probate Code §5000, §5040, §5302 and §5507
14. Probate Code §3401
15. Vehicle Code §4150.7
16. Probate Code §10810 and §10800
17. Probate Code §8961
18. Government Code §27388.1
19. Revenue and Taxation Code §62
20. Revenue and Taxation Code §13301 (no state gift, inheritance or estate tax) and §13302 (the pick-up tax tied to the federal state death tax credit, 26 U.S.C. §2011, now repealed)
21. What's new: estate and gift tax (2026 basic exclusion amount $15,000,000), Internal Revenue Service

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