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How the California Probate Court Handles an
Estate with
No Will
When a person dies with no will, the California
Probate
Court divides the assets according to a legal formula. The
court appoints a family member, friend, or other person as
"administrator" to handle the probate. The court
proceedings and paperwork requirements are very similar to
those of a California probate with a will, and a knowledgeable
California probate
lawyer can handle them efficiently.
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How San Diego Law
Firm Can Help
As skilled, experienced California probate
attorneys, San Diego Law Firm can handle all the probate
the legal and accounting steps for you. From
our San Diego, California law offices, we handle all
types of probate proceedings, including those with
no will
throughout
California, including Riverside, Imperial, Los Angeles,
and all southern California.
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| Steps
to Take When a Family Member Dies Without a Will |
1 |
First, make sure that the person
who died never made a will at any time. Even a very
old will is effective if the person who died did not revoke
it. You should take these steps: |
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a |
Search the deceased's papers, safety deposit
box, and other storage places. You will look for either
a will, a mention of a will, or the name of an attorney or
law firm who might have prepared a will. If you find
an attorney's name, you should contact him or her immediately
to ask if they prepared a will for the deceased, know
if a will existed, or know any other attorneys who might
have prepared a will. |
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b |
If you learn that the deceased
had a will but it can't be found, consider advertising
in local legal magazines for any attorney with useful
information about the will to contact the heirs. |
2 |
If no will
can be found, file the necessary papers with the Probate
Court to start the probate process. San Diego Law Firm
can handle all of these steps for you. |
3 |
The legal process is the
same as described in "The
7 Crucial Steps of Probate." The administrator
must pay the deceased's debts, notify potential creditors,
preserve, itemize, and possibly have appraisals for property,
and prepare and file the accounting documents. Then, the
property must be distributed to the legal heirs.
A variety of legal documents must be prepared and filed
with the Probate Court at each stage. |
4 |
Each state has its own formula
to determine who inherits the deceased's property when
no will exists. California's property distribution system
is shown on the chart below. This chart demonstrates the
importance of having a will: if there is no will, the
legal distribution plan is put into effect, even if this
is not at all what the deceased would have wanted. |
How California Law Distributes
Property when No Will Exists
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California Property
Distribution: With Surviving Spouse |
| Community
Property and Quasi-Community property |
Spouse
receives all |
| Separate
Property |
Spouse
receives all if no surviving children, parent, brother,
sister, or children of a deceased brother or sister |
| Spouse
receives one-half when: |
Deceased left one
child or children of a deceased child |
| Deceased left no
child but left a surviving parent, brother or sisters,
or children of a brother or sister |
| Spouse
receives one-third when: |
Deceased left more
than one child |
| Deceased left
one child and the children of one or more deceased children |
| Deceased left
children of two or more deceased children |
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California Property
Distribution of Separate Property that
Does Not Go to A Surviving Spouse, or
Distribution of All Property if No Surviving Spouse,
in Order of Preference: |
| If
deceased had children: |
All
to deceased's children equally if they are of the same
degree of kinship; children of a deceased child divide
that deceased child's share. |
| If
deceased had no children: |
All
to deceased's parents equally; if no surviving parents,
see the next box below. |
| To
the children of either or both parents, equally if all
of the same degree of kinship; if no surviving children,
see the next box below. |
| To
deceased's grandparents equally, or, if deceased, to their
children equally if all the same degree of kinship. If
there are no surviving children of grandparents, see the
next box below. |
| To
the children of a predeceased spouse, equally if all the
same degree of kinship. If there are no children of a
predeceased spouse, see the next box below. |
| To
the next of kin in equal degree, but where there are two
or more relatives in equal degree who claim through different
ancestors, those who claim through the nearest ancestor
are preferred to those claiming through an ancestor more
remote. If no such kin exist, see the next box below. |
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the parents of a predeceased spouse equally, or if none,
to the children of such parents equally if all are of
the same degree of kinship. |
| Note:
Persons of the same generation or who have an equal
degree of kinship divide the property into equal shares.
Persons who claim through a deceased heir get equal portions
of the deceased heir's share. |
How to Contact Us
For more information or an appointment, please
call San Diego Law Firm at 619-794-0243, or, if you prefer, send us an e-mail at
and an attorney from our office will contact you. Please note
that making a phone call or sending an email does not create
an attorney-client relationship; this requires a written agreement.
Please do not e-mail any confidential information to us until
an agreement is signed; at that point, we can exchange confidential
information freely.
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