California guide

California offers several procedures for property after death, not one universal small-estate form. Personal-property affidavits, petitions involving real property, and spousal property proceedings have different eligibility rules. Judicial Council form DE-300 organizes limits by procedure and date of death.

Ask which date-of-death value limit applies, whether real property changes the procedure, and whether property-tax reassessment is a separate issue.

California's statewide DE-300 information sheet organizes procedures by property type and date of death. A personal-property affidavit does not appoint an executor and is not a general deed-transfer device. A spousal property petition raises different questions from a small-estate transfer. Before relying on a value limit, establish the applicable death date, the property included in that calculation, and the correct procedure; more than one simplified route can exist without being interchangeable.

California does not currently impose a state estate tax for 2026 deaths and does not currently impose a separate inheritance tax for 2026 deaths. This does not mean the inheritance or its future earnings are exempt from federal estate, income, or capital gains tax. Property and a decedent connected to another state can require another state's review. Older deaths can have different rules.

The California Controller explains that no California estate-tax return is required for post-2004 deaths under the current credit-based system. Older inheritance-tax matters have different historical rules.

Legal authority, tax reporting, and investing are different tasks. In California, ask the estate attorney to confirm the transfer route and notices, the CPA to review state and federal returns, and the financial advisor to discuss your own cash flow, retirement income, and risk. A simplified estate process is not a tax exemption or an investment recommendation.

The Sacramento guide identifies a local starting point. It does not establish venue for everyone in the state and does not represent an SBC office.