What Is Probate?
Probate is the court-supervised process for distributing a deceased person’s assets when those assets were not held in a trust, did not have a named beneficiary, and were not held in joint tenancy. In California, probate is required when the deceased person’s qualifying assets exceed $208,850.
Probate is public. It is slow — typically 9 to 18 months, if things go smoothly. And it is expensive.
How Much Does Probate Cost in California?
California probate attorney fees are set not by individual attorneys, but by statute under Probate Code §10800. They’re calculated as a percentage of the gross value of the estate — not the net, and regardless of any mortgage:
- 4% of the first $100,000
- 3% of the next $100,000
- 2% of the next $800,000
- 1% of the next $9,000,000
The executor receives the same fee. On a $1,000,000 estate: $23,000 in attorney fees + $23,000 in executor fees = $46,000 in statutory fees before court costs and other expenses.
If your Bay Area home is worth $1.5 million with a $700,000 mortgage, the fees are calculated on $1.5 million. The mortgage is irrelevant. You can use our probate calculator to estimate the attorney and executor fees should you need to probate the decedent’s estate.
In addition to the statutory executor and attorney fees, probate will have other fees: filing fees, newspaper notice publication fees, real estate appraiser fees, etc. While the attorney and executor fees get paid directly out of the probate estate at the end of the process, attorneys generally ask for a few thousand dollars up front to cover these other costs and expenses.
The process was flawless: all the explanations were clear and simple; Marina’s responses were immediate. With Marina I had a feeling that everything is under control.
– Elena M.
How Modlin Legal Can Help
Marina Modlin has been representing clients through the California probate process since 2010. Probate is a defined legal process — the steps are set by statute, and so is Marina’s compensation.
The process generally looks like this:
- Free 15-minute consultation by phone or Zoom. You explain the situation, and if it’s the right fit, you start working with Marina.
- Marina files the initial petition with the probate court and handles all required legal notices and publications.
- You, as executor, gather the decedent’s assets and manage the estate during the process — Marina advises you on what’s required and when.
- Marina handles all court filings, accountings, and legal requirements throughout. Probate involves a lot of paperwork and court interaction — that’s Marina’s job, not yours.
- Once the court approves the final accounting, Marina helps you make the final distributions to the beneficiaries.
Part of my sister’s estate went to probate. That process was, for me, mostly just a waiting game — Marina did all the work with the court, sending me an occasional form to sign. She made dealing with the court almost unnoticeable to me.
– Christopher R., Salt Lake City, Utah
California probate typically takes 9 to 18 months if things go smoothly — sometimes longer in complex estates or backlogged courts. Marina’s fees are set by California statute (Probate Code §10800) based on the gross estate value, and are paid at the end of the process from estate funds — not out of pocket upfront.
If you’re not sure where to start, start with a call to Marina.
Set up a free consultation todayFrequently Asked Questions
What’s the difference between Probate and Trust Administration?
If the deceased had a revocable living trust, the settlement of their estate is called “trust administration” and it takes place privately — in an attorney’s office, without court involvement, without the public record, and without the statutory fee schedule. Most trust administrations are completed within four to nine months. You can learn more about trust administration here. And if you don’t want your own estate to go through probate, you can learn about setting up a revocable trust here.
Does a will avoid probate in California?
No. Assets that pass through a will must still go through probate. A will only specifies where the assets will go – after the probate process is completed. Only a revocable living trust — or other non-probate transfers like beneficiary designations — can avoid probate.
“My mom just died. She had a trust but I found an account that wasn’t in it. What do I do?”
This is one of the most common situations families face after a loved one dies — and it’s more manageable than it feels in the moment.
When someone dies with a revocable living trust, assets that were never transferred into the trust can’t be distributed by the successor trustee. A forgotten bank account, a brokerage account opened after the trust was signed, a house that was accidentally left out — these are “outside” the trust and need to be handled separately.
There are legal procedures available to transfer these assets to the right people without necessarily going through full probate. What’s available depends on the asset and the circumstances.
The most important thing to do right now: don’t move the money, don’t close the account, and contact an estate planning or probate attorney as soon as possible. California law imposes deadlines on successor trustees that start running from the date of death.
Modlin Legal handles exactly this situation. Marina will assess what’s inside and outside the trust and explain your options clearly.
What If There Were Also Trust Assets?
Often a deceased person has both a trust and some assets accidentally left outside it. The trust assets go through trust administration — private, efficient, no court. The non-trust assets may need probate, or may qualify for a simplified procedure.
Marina handles both and will tell you which path makes sense for each asset. See Trust Administration for more on that side of the process.
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