If you die in California without a trust, your assets don't simply pass to your family. Depending on what you own, they may have to go through probate court first, and if there's no will, state law decides who inherits.
California's intestate succession rules (Probate Code §6401 and following) decide. In general, your surviving spouse receives all community property; your separate property is divided between your spouse and your children, or your parents or siblings if you have no children. Unmarried partners, stepchildren and friends receive nothing unless you named them.
Usually, yes. Since April 1, 2025, an estate with more than $208,850 in assets outside a trust, joint ownership or beneficiary designation generally needs full probate. Most California homes are worth more than that on their own. Smaller estates may use a small estate affidavit, and assets passing to a surviving spouse may use a spousal property petition, but both still take paperwork and time.
Full probate commonly takes 12 to 18 months. Attorney and executor fees are each set by law as a percentage of the gross estate, before the mortgage is subtracted: about $46,000 combined on a $1,000,000 estate. Try the probate cost calculator with your own numbers.
Without a written nomination, a judge decides who becomes guardian of your minor children, and anything they inherit may be managed under court supervision until they turn 18, then handed to them outright.
Probate filings, including what you owned and who receives it, become part of the public court record.
With a funded living trust, the successor trustee you choose distributes your assets privately, on your terms, without probate court. Paired with a pour-over will that nominates guardians, it covers your children too. Talk with Kristi or read living trust vs. will in California.
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