When can a California estate skip probate?

A California estate can skip probate when the gross value of the decedent's property subject to the small-estate procedure is no more than $208,850 for a death on or after April 1, 2025, under Probate Code section 13100. Successors collect by affidavit 40 days after death; trust, joint tenancy, and beneficiary-designated assets bypass probate at any size.

When the qualifying gross value of the decedent's California property is no more than the small-estate threshold, successors can collect personal property 40 days after death with a sworn affidavit under Probate Code section 13100, without opening a probate case. The threshold is $208,850 for deaths on or after April 1, 2025, and was $184,500 for deaths between April 1, 2022 and March 31, 2025; it is adjusted every three years under section 890 and published on Judicial Council form DE-300. The value is gross, before mortgages. Real property has its own route: for deaths on or after April 1, 2025, a petition under section 13151 can pass the decedent's primary residence worth up to $750,000 without full administration. Living trust assets, joint tenancy property, pay-on-death and beneficiary-designated accounts, life insurance with named beneficiaries, and property passing to a surviving spouse by spousal property petition (section 13500) bypass probate at any size. Full probate, with statutory fees under section 10810, is the default only for what remains.

Authority: Cal. Prob. Code § 13100