New 2025 California Probate Laws for Property under $750,000

We have been helping clients with probate and estate planning matters for 50 years. Rarely have there been any new game-changing developments in the law that would affect our process or our clients. We are happy to report that today, that changes, with what we believe is great news!

California Assembly Bill 2016
California recently enacted new probate laws that will make the process for many of our clients much easier. Specifically, California AB 2016 updates Probate Code Section 13100, et seq., which offers alternative ways to deal with “small estates” in California. These small estate procedures will allow families to avoid going through a full blown probate case in certain situations.

How it Works
For anyone passing away on or after April 1, 2025, California will allow us to file a petition to transfer a decedent’s primary residence valued up to $750,000 to the heirs without having to go file a traditional probate case.

Instead of a full-blown probate process, we will be able to file a Petition to Determine Succession to Real Property with the court, and have a court date to transfer the primary residence property into the names of the heirs. While a petition like this still requires a court hearing, it generally allows us to resolve the process and get the property transferred to the heirs much more quickly and cost-effectively than a standard probate case. This new procedure will typically take a matter of months instead of taking over a year.

In order to qualify for this process, the house must not exceed $750,000, it must be the decedent’s primary residence, and the rest of the assets in the estate that need to be dealt with must not exceed ~$200,000. We will also need the full cooperation and involvement of all of the heirs in signing the petition.

Who determines that the value is not more than $750,000?
To determine the value of the property, the court relies on a professional (referred to as a probate referee) to do an appraisal of the property. These are not the typical, thorough appraisals you would get if you’re selling a property, but are similar to comparable property reports that a realtor may get. The probate referee usually does not visit the property. However, we are able to submit information to the probate referee regarding the condition of the property, including pictures, which can be very important in determining the probate referee’s appraised value of the property. The court considers the gross value of the property for purposes of this section, so no mortgages or other liens are considered. Further, the court looks at the value as of date of death; not the current value.

How Do Other Assets Affect The Ability to File This Petition

Beyond the value of the primary residence, in order to qualify for this petition, there must not be more than approximately $200,000 in other assets that the estate needs to deal with.

That said, not all assets are counted towards calculating this value.

Here is a general list of what is not included when calculating the value for other assets:

-Cars, boats, or mobile homes;
-Real property outside of California.
-Property held in trust, including a living trust.
-Real or personal property that the person who died owned with someone else (joint tenancy).
-Property that passed directly to the surviving spouse or domestic partner
-Life insurance, death benefits, or other assets not subject to probate that pass directly to the beneficiaries;
-Unpaid salary or other compensation up to a certain amount owed to the person who passed;
-Bank accounts that are owned by multiple persons, including the person who passed.

Note that there are a lot of very specific intricacies to determining whether an estate qualifies for this procedure. Given this, if you’re dealing with a potential probate situation, we highly recommend you contact our probate law firm or a probate lawyer in general for a free consultation to help you navigate these situations.

At The Werner Law Firm, our experienced probate lawyers can help and we offer a free consultation to help you navigate these situations. We would be happy to walk you through your options and see how we can assist!

If you have any questions, you can schedule a free appointment with us through our online appointment page.

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