Probate is the court-supervised legal process used to validate a deceased person’s will (if one exists), identify and inventory their assets, pay off debts and taxes, and distribute the remaining property to heirs or beneficiaries. In California, it is a formal proceeding handled in the Superior Court of the county where the deceased resided.

Probate is generally required when a person dies owning assets in their name alone that exceed the state’s "small estate" threshold, and those assets do not have a designated beneficiary or a "right of survivorship" (like a living trust or joint tenancy).

On average, probate in California takes 12 to 18 months. Even a "simple" estate rarely concludes in under nine months due to mandatory notice periods for creditors and court scheduling backlogs.

Probate is expensive because fees are set by statute based on the gross value of the estate (not the net value after mortgages). For example, the fees for a house worth $1,000,000 with a $900,000 mortgage are based on the full $1,000,000. Combined attorney and executor fees for such an estate can exceed $46,000.

Yes. Every document filed in a probate case, including the will, the inventory of all assets and their values, and the names of the beneficiaries are matters of public record, accessible to anyone who cares to look.