California Small Estates: the small estate affidavit
The short answer
California calls its simplified route the small estate affidavit, and it is set out in Cal. Prob. Code § 13100 (adjusted under § 890). This applies to deaths on or after April 1, 2025. The amount is updated every three years. You have to wait a set number of days after the death before using it. Real estate has its own separate route in this state, with its own limit and its own wait. The card above states both. The current limit and the date we last read the statute are on the card below.
California’s small estate affidavit
California sets this out in Cal. Prob. Code § 13100 (adjusted under § 890). This applies to deaths on or after April 1, 2025. The amount is updated every three years. The figure itself, and the date we last read that statute, are on the card below.[1]
California
- Procedure:
- small estate affidavit
- Limit:
- $208,850
- Wait:
- 40 days
- Real estate:
- separate procedure
This applies to deaths on or after April 1, 2025. The amount is updated every three years.
Real estate worth up to $69,625 uses a separate affidavit, and a court petition can transfer a main home worth up to $750,000.
Cal. Prob. Code § 13100 (adjusted under § 890) — official page read September 18, 2026
Real estate has its own separate route in this state, with its own limit and its own wait. The card above states both. Real estate worth up to $69,625 uses a separate affidavit, and a court petition can transfer a main home worth up to $750,000.[1]
The small estate affidavit is one piece of settling an estate in California. Answer a few questions and Go Forward builds the rest of the list for your situation — the notifications, the accounts, the paperwork — in the order it needs doing.
Build my plan →Steps this page connects to: Check whether probate is required · Order certified death certificates · List what the estate holds
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Creditor claims under Cal. Prob. Code §§ 8120, 9100
Above the limit it is a regular California probate case, and whoever the court appoints has to publish a notice to creditors in a local newspaper. The window for claims is the later of 4 months after the court appoints the estate's representative, or 60 days after a creditor is mailed notice. Claims are also cut off 1 year after the death.. Paying anyone out before that window closes can leave the person who paid personally liable.[2]
California
- Published notice:
- required
- Claim window:
- the later of 4 months after the court appoints the estate's representative, or 60 days after a creditor is mailed notice. Claims are also cut off 1 year after the death.
Cal. Prob. Code §§ 8120, 9100 — official page read September 18, 2026
Sources
- Cal. Prob. Code § 13100 (adjusted under § 890) (small estate affidavit) — California — official statute or court self-help page. Read September 18, 2026.
- Cal. Prob. Code §§ 8120, 9100 (notice to creditors) — California — official statute or court self-help page. Read September 18, 2026.
Each state above links to the statute or court page we read, with the date we read it.
How we source and review these pages, and how to tell us about a mistake: our editorial policy.