You are not late on anything this roadmap tracks. The next date on it is Small Estate Affidavit Waiting Period, which opens Sep 29, 2026: the earliest your state lets you take that step, not something you owe by then.
Common first questionDo you even need full probate?
Not every estate needs a full probate case. Many smaller estates qualify for a simpler small-estate affidavit or similar shortcut, depending on what the estate owns and your state's rules. If your list below includes a small-estate or affidavit task, open it: it explains what may qualify. Your probate court can confirm what applies to your situation.
Your roadmap, grouped into chapters. Open any chapter; nothing is hidden.
1. Right now, the first daysYou are herecare, notifications, paperwork1 of 8 done
Your next step
Notify Immediate Family
It is the first step still open on your roadmap. Work down from here; the dated ones are called out as they come.
Choose a funeral home to transport and care for your loved one. They will guide you through many next steps.
Notify Immediate Family
First 24-48 Hours
Not started
Let close family members know. Consider designating one person to spread the word to extended family and friends.
Pronouncement of Death
First 24-48 Hours
Not started
If the death occurred at home, call 911 or the deceased's doctor. A medical professional must officially pronounce the death.
2. Before the court appoints youthe path, the will, the filing2 of 15 done
Find out whether there is a will
First 24-48 Hours
Done
Search where the person kept important papers: a home safe or filing cabinet, a safe deposit box, the office of the attorney who drafted it, and the probate court clerk, since some people file a will for safekeeping before they die. Ask the family, the executor named in any copy you find, and any financial adviser. A photocopy is not the will: the court almost always wants the signed original. The answer decides which route this estate takes, so it is worth doing before anything else on this roadmap.
Read the will all the way through
First Week
Not started
Read it once for what it says and once for what it asks of you. Note who it names as executor and whether an alternate is named, every specific gift, and the residuary clause that says who receives whatever is left after those gifts and the debts. Check for a codicil, a later amendment that can change any of it. If the will refers to a trust, the trust usually holds its own assets and has its own trustee, and that is a separate job from the one you are doing. If the will names someone who has died, or a gift of something the estate no longer owns, note it now rather than at distribution: both have rules, and both are easier to raise early with the court or an attorney.
Secure the Original Will
First Week
Not started
California does not require depositing the will with the court within a specific timeframe, but keep it safe for probate if needed.
Agree how personal belongings will be divided
First Month·due Sep 19, 2026Estimated
Not started
This is where families fall out, and it is rarely about money. Start from the documents: a specific gift in the will controls, and some states also recognise a separate signed list of personal items. For everything the will does not name, agree the method before anyone takes anything, because a method everyone accepted in advance survives disagreement far better than a decision made item by item. Families commonly rotate picks, draw lots, or bid against an appraised value and settle the difference in cash. Anything contested is worth appraising rather than arguing over. Nothing should leave the house until the inventory is done.
Deal with the digital accounts and subscriptions
First Month·due Sep 19, 2026Estimated
Not started
Email is the master key: password resets for almost everything else run through it, so secure that access first and do not close it early. Cancel the subscriptions billing a card each month, which are easiest to find on the last card statements. Social accounts can usually be memorialized or closed, and each platform has its own process and its own proof requirements. Most states have adopted a version of the fiduciary digital-access law, which gives an executor a route to account records while limiting access to the content of private messages, so expect a provider to ask for the letters and to still say no to some of it.
Determine Probate Procedure Needed
First Month·due Sep 19, 2026Estimated
Not started
California has several options based on estate value and composition. Choosing the right one saves time and money.
File Life Insurance Claims
First Month·due Sep 19, 2026Estimated
Not started
Look for coverage in more places than a standalone policy: an employer or union plan, a mortgage or credit card add-on, a fraternal organization, and veterans' coverage. Call each insurer, ask for a claim form, and expect to send a certified death certificate and the policy number. A policy paid to a named beneficiary who is still living goes straight to that person and is not part of the probate estate; it becomes estate money only when the estate is the named beneficiary or no named beneficiary survives. You do not have to wait for probate to open before you file.
Keep the home insured, powered and maintained
First Month·due Sep 19, 2026Estimated
Not started
Tell the insurer that the house is now unoccupied. Most homeowner policies limit or exclude cover once a property has been empty for a set period, commonly around 30 to 60 days, and a claim on an unreported vacant house can be refused. Ask what the policy needs, which is usually a vacancy endorsement. Keep the utilities on: heat prevents frozen pipes and power keeps sump pumps and alarms running, and a burst pipe in an empty house is the single most expensive thing that happens to estates. Keep the lawn cut and the mail collected, because a visibly empty house attracts attention.
Notify Banks and Financial Institutions
First Month·due Sep 19, 2026Estimated
Not started
Contact every bank, credit union, brokerage and retirement plan where the person held an account. Each one will want a certified copy of the death certificate. Ask for the balance as of the date of death in writing: that is the figure the estate inventory and the estate's tax returns are built on. Ask them to stop automatic payments and direct deposits, and stop using any card on the person's account. Who receives each account depends on how it was titled and on any beneficiary named on it, which is a separate question from probate.
Small Estate Affidavit Waiting Period
Waiting period·opens Sep 29, 2026Statutory waiting period
Not started
You must wait 40 days after death before using a Small Estate Affidavit to collect personal property under $208,850 (the limit is set by date of death). (per Probate Code 13100)
Real Property Affidavit Waiting Period
Waiting period·opens Feb 20, 2027Statutory waiting period
Not started
You must wait 6 months after death before filing an Affidavit for Real Property of Small Value (gross value of all California real property $69,625 or less, for deaths on or after April 1, 2025). (per Probate Code 13200)
List what the trust actually holds, and what it does not
Specific to this estate
Done
There is a trust, and you told us it was not fully funded. This is the single most common reason an estate that was supposed to avoid probate does not. A trust only governs the assets actually retitled into its name: a house whose deed still reads the person's own name, or an account never re-registered to the trust, is not in the trust no matter what the trust document says. Go through the assets one at a time and check how each is titled. Whatever is still in the person's own name, with no surviving joint owner and no named beneficiary, is likely what has to go through probate, and its total is the number that decides which route this estate takes.
File proof of service and the affidavit of publication with the court
After you're appointed
Not started
This one runs to a deadline set by your court hearing date, not from the death, so we cannot date it for you. Check that date with the court handling the estate and diarise it yourself. Proof of giving the § 8110 notice must be made to the satisfaction of the court at or before the hearing (§ 1260(a); DE-121 page 2 carries the Proof of Service by Mail, and proof of mailing may follow CCP § 1013a per Prob. Code § 1261). The affidavit showing due publication, containing a copy of the notice and stating the date of its publication, must be on file before the petition can be heard (§ 8124). (per Cal. Prob. Code §§ 1260, 8124)
Open Probate (if needed)
Ongoing (Weeks to Months)
Not started
If the estate exceeds simplified procedure thresholds, file a Petition for Probate with the Superior Court.
Wait for Required Periods
Ongoing (Weeks to Months)
Not started
California has mandatory waiting periods for simplified procedures.
3. After you are appointedadministration; several clocks start here0 of 8 done
Some steps here run from the day the probate court appoints you and issues your Letters, not from the date of death. Until then they carry no date; they are still real duties once you are appointed.
Create Asset Inventory
First Week
Not started
Create a detailed inventory of all assets and debts. This is important for determining which probate procedure to use.
Get a federal tax ID (EIN) for the estate
First Month·due Sep 19, 2026Estimated
Not started
Apply for the estate's free Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS using Form SS-4 (fastest online at irs.gov). You need the EIN to open an estate bank account and to file the estate's income tax return (Form 1041) if the estate earns income. The online application is free and usually issues the number right away.
Creditor Claim Period Ends
Deadline·closes Dec 20, 2026Claim window
Not started
Creditors have 4 months from first publication of Notice to Creditors to file claims, or 60 days from direct notice, whichever is later. (per Probate Code 9100) Applies if: Formal probate with creditor notice published.
File Estate Inventory
After you're appointed
Not started
This one runs within 4 months of your appointment (the court issuing your Letters), not from the death, so it has no date yet. Record the date on your roadmap once it happens and this deadline will be calculated for you. Personal representative must file an Inventory and Appraisal within 4 months of receiving Letters. (per Probate Code 8800) Applies if: Formal probate.
Mail Notice to Known Creditors
After you're appointed
Not started
This one runs within 4 months of your appointment (the court issuing your Letters), not from the death, so it has no date yet. Record the date on your roadmap once it happens and this deadline will be calculated for you. Personal representative must mail notice to all known creditors within 4 months of Letters being issued. (per Probate Code 9050) Applies if: Formal probate.
Publish Notice to Creditors
After you're appointed
Not started
This one runs within 30 days of your appointment (the court issuing your Letters), not from the death, so it has no date yet. Record the date on your roadmap once it happens and this deadline will be calculated for you. After Letters are issued in formal probate, publish Notice to Creditors in a newspaper of general circulation. (per Probate Code 9050) Applies if: Formal probate is opened.
Serve Notice of Petition to Administer Estate (DE-121) on heirs and devisees
After you're appointed
Not started
This one runs to a deadline set by your court hearing date, not from the death, so we cannot date it for you. Check that date with the court handling the estate and diarise it yourself. At least 15 days before the hearing on the petition for administration, the petitioner must deliver notice of the hearing (methods of Prob. Code § 1215; mandatory Judicial Council form DE-121) to each heir of the decedent so far as known to or reasonably ascertainable by the petitioner, and to each devisee, executor, and alternative executor named in any will being offered for probate, even if purportedly revoked in a subsequent instrument. In an intestate estate the set reduces to the heirs alone. The hearing is set 15 to 45 days after the petition is filed and the court may not shorten the notice period (§ 8003(a)). The notice must also be published three times in a qualifying newspaper with the first publication at least 15 days before the hearing (§§ 8120-8121). (per Cal. Prob. Code § 8110)
Status Report to Court
After you're appointed
Not started
This one runs within 1 year of your appointment (the court issuing your Letters), not from the death, so it has no date yet. Record the date on your roadmap once it happens and this deadline will be calculated for you. If estate is not closed within 12 months, personal representative must file a status report with the court. (per Probate Code 12200) Applies if: Formal probate lasting more than 12 months.
4. Closing the estatetaxes, distributions, wrap-up0 of 5 done
Estate Income Tax Return (Form 1041)
If it applies·due Apr 15, 2027Estimated
Not started
If the estate earns $600 or more of gross income during administration (or has a nonresident-alien beneficiary), the personal representative must file a federal fiduciary income tax return, Form 1041 (per IRC 6012(a)(3)). For a calendar-year estate the first return is due April 15 of the year after death (per IRC 6072(a)); the estate may instead elect a fiscal year, in which case it is due the 15th day of the 4th month after that year ends. This is separate from the decedent's final Form 1040, and a state fiduciary return may also apply if your state taxes income. Applies if: the estate has $600 or more of gross income during administration, or any beneficiary is a nonresident alien.
Final Income Tax Return Due
If it applies·due Apr 15, 2027Estimated
Not started
The deceased's final Form 1040 and California Form 540 are due April 15 of the year following death.
Federal Estate Tax Return Due (if required)
If it applies·due May 20, 2027Verified by statute
Not started
Form 706 due 9 months after death. Only required if gross estate exceeds federal exemption ($15M in 2026). (per 26 U.S.C. § 6075) Applies if: Gross estate exceeds federal exemption, or portability election desired.
Distribute Assets
Ongoing (Weeks to Months)
Not started
After debts are paid and waiting periods end, distribute remaining assets to beneficiaries.
File Final Tax Returns
Ongoing (Weeks to Months)
Not started
File the deceased's final income tax return and any estate tax returns if required.
Every date on this roadmap13 dated · enter your 2 key dates here for real deadlines
Record your key dates
Two dates set the clock on several deadlines. Enter them once they happen and we will calculate the exact due dates for you, including the creditor claim deadline, which the law measures from when you publish notice.
Nothing is past due.
Sep 19, 2026Agree how personal belongings will be divideddueEstimated
Sep 19, 2026Deal with the digital accounts and subscriptionsdueEstimated
Sep 19, 2026File Life Insurance ClaimsdueEstimated
Sep 19, 2026Get a federal tax ID (EIN) for the estatedueEstimated
Sep 19, 2026Keep the home insured, powered and maintaineddueEstimated
Sep 19, 2026Notify Banks and Financial InstitutionsdueEstimated
Sep 29, 2026Small Estate Affidavit Waiting PeriodopensVerified by statute
Dec 20, 2026Creditor Claim Period Endswindow end, clock not startedEstimatedMeasured from the day you publish notice to creditors; a projection until then.
Feb 20, 2027Real Property Affidavit Waiting PeriodopensVerified by statute
Apr 15, 2027Estate Income Tax Return (Form 1041)due, if it appliesEstimated
Apr 15, 2027Final Income Tax Return Duedue, if it appliesEstimated
May 20, 2027Federal Estate Tax Return Due (if required)due, if it appliesVerified by statute
Not dated yet: these start when the probate court appoints you
no date yetFile Estate InventoryStarts at your appointment.
no date yetFile proof of service and the affidavit of publication with the courtStarts at your appointment.
no date yetMail Notice to Known CreditorsStarts at your appointment.
no date yetPublish Notice to CreditorsStarts at your appointment.
no date yetServe Notice of Petition to Administer Estate (DE-121) on heirs and deviseesStarts at your appointment.
no date yetStatus Report to CourtStarts at your appointment.
