What to Do When Someone Dies in California: A Step-by-Step Guide
When someone dies in California, the first steps are to get a legal pronouncement of death, notify close family, order certified copies of the death certificate, secure the home, and locate the estate planning documents. What happens next depends on one question: did the person have a funded living trust, or does the estate need probate?
Grief makes the list feel impossible. A few items are urgent, most can wait days or weeks, and a handful of decisions should not be made at all until the legal picture is clear.
What to Do When Someone Dies in California: Checklist at a Glance
| Timeframe | What to do |
|---|---|
| First 24 hours | Get a legal pronouncement of death. Notify close family. Contact a funeral home or cremation provider. Secure the home, pets, and valuables. |
| First week | Order certified copies of the death certificate. Locate the will, trust, and beneficiary designations. Notify Social Security, employers, and insurers. Hold off on paying, selling, or distributing anything. |
| Decision point | Find out whether a funded living trust exists. That answer decides whether the next phase is trust administration or probate. |
| First month | Inventory assets and debts. Keep the mortgage, insurance, and utilities current. Check for Medi-Cal and tax issues. Get legal guidance before any large decision. |
The First 24 Hours
1. Get a legal pronouncement of death
Who to call depends on where the death happens. If the person was under hospice care, call the hospice nurse line first, not 911. If the death was unexpected at home, call 911. In a hospital or care facility, staff handle the pronouncement and will ask who should be contacted. Unattended or unexpected deaths can involve the county coroner or medical examiner, which can add time before a funeral home is able to take the person into its care.
2. Notify close family and the people named in the documents
That usually means a spouse or partner, adult children, and whoever was named as agent, successor trustee, or executor. Those names matter later, so write down who was told and when.
3. Contact a funeral home or cremation provider
Ask the family whether the person left written wishes or prepaid arrangements, and check the person's papers for both. The funeral home typically files the death certificate with the county and can order certified copies.
4. Secure the home and anything that cannot wait
Lock the property, arrange care for pets, remove perishable food, and keep medications and valuables safe. Collect the mail daily. Do not give away, sell, or remove property from the home yet, even items the person clearly meant for someone.
The First Week
5. Order several certified copies of the death certificate
Banks, insurance companies, title companies, pension administrators, and government agencies each typically require their own certified copy. Ordering extra at the start is faster than going back for more later. Photocopies are generally not accepted.
6. Locate the estate planning documents
Look for the will, any trust, deeds, life insurance policies, retirement account statements, and the most recent beneficiary designations. A power of attorney and an advance healthcare directive both end at death, so an agent named in those documents no longer has authority to act. Where families keep estate planning documents is a problem of its own, and plans are sometimes not found until weeks into the process.
7. Notify Social Security, employers, pension administrators, and insurers
Life insurance proceeds and retirement accounts with a named beneficiary are generally paid directly to that beneficiary and do not wait for probate, but each claim still needs a certified death certificate and the policy or account details. Contact each bank to report the death, but do not close accounts or move money until the authority question in step 9 is answered.
8. Hold off on paying, selling, or distributing anything
Executors and trustees owe legal duties to creditors and beneficiaries, and acting too early can create personal liability. That includes paying the person's debts out of pocket, promising the house to someone, and handing out jewelry or vehicles. Anyone who has just been named executor should understand what the role actually involves before touching estate property.
| What Not To Do in the First Week |
|---|
| Do not distribute personal property, even items the person promised to someone. |
| Do not sell or list the house, or move into it, before legal authority is established. |
| Do not pay the person's debts or bills from personal funds without guidance. |
| Do not add your name to the person's accounts or take money out of them. |
| Do not ignore the mail. Creditor notices and tax letters carry deadlines. |
| Most of these mistakes come from good intentions. All of them are easier to prevent than to undo. |
Step 9: Does the Estate Need Probate or Trust Administration?
This step determines everything after it. The answer depends on how the person's assets were titled at death, not just on whether a trust document exists.
| Funded living trust | No trust, assets in the person's name | |
|---|---|---|
| Who has authority | The successor trustee, immediately | No one until the court issues letters to an executor or administration |
| Court involvement | Generally none | Probate court supervises |
| Public record | No | Yes, court filings are public |
| First formal steps | Certification of trust, tax ID for the trust, notice to beneficiaries and heirs | Deliver the original will to the court, file a petition to open probate |
If there is a funded living trust
When a living trust exists and the assets were actually retitled into it, the successor trustee can act right away. The first formal steps are a certification of trust for banks and title companies, a tax ID for the trust, and a written notice to beneficiaries and heirs, which California law requires within a set window after death. The difference between a trustee and an executor causes confusion early, and the trustee vs executor distinction is worth understanding before anyone signs anything. A trust administration attorney handles these steps and the deadlines attached to them.
If there is no trust
When the person owned assets in their own name with no trust, those assets generally go through probate. Whoever holds the original will must deliver it to the probate court clerk within 30 days of learning of the death, even if no one plans to open a case. Until a judge issues letters appointing an executor or administrator, no one has legal authority over the person's solely owned bank accounts or real estate. The probate timeline in California commonly runs longer than a year, and the process is public.
Assets that skip both processes
Accounts with a payable-on-death designation, property held in joint tenancy with right of survivorship, and policies or retirement accounts with a named beneficiary pass directly to the named person. What assets go through probate in California depends on how each one is titled, not on what the will says.
Smaller estates
Smaller estates may qualify for a simplified process. For decedents who died on or after April 1, 2025, the Judicial Council lists $208,850 as the maximum gross value for collecting personal property by affidavit, and $750,000 as the maximum gross value of a primary residence for the court petition process under Probate Code section 13151. The California small estate affidavit is the usual starting point for estates under the personal property limit.
| Why the Trust Question Matters So Much |
|---|
| A living trust only controls what was actually retitled into it. A home still titled in the person's name goes through probate even when a signed trust is sitting in a drawer. |
| Families who go through this often learn that a trust has to be funded, meaning the home and accounts are retitled, before it does its job. |
The First Month
10. Inventory everything the person owned and owed
List bank and investment accounts, real estate, vehicles, business interests, digital accounts, loans, credit cards, and recurring bills. The list is the foundation for every later step, whether the estate ends up in trust administration or probate.
11. Protect the home
Mortgage payments continue after a death, and a missed payment can start the foreclosure process no matter what stage the estate is in. Tell the homeowner's insurance company about the death, because many policies restrict coverage when a house sits vacant. What happens to a mortgage when the owner dies depends on who inherits and how the home was titled.
12. Check for Medi-Cal and tax issues
If the person received Medi-Cal benefits, the state may have a claim against the estate. A final income tax return is due for the year of death, and a trust or estate may need its own return. A CPA familiar with estates can confirm what applies.
13. Get legal guidance before any large decision
An early conversation with an attorney usually settles whether the estate needs trust administration, probate, or a simplified process, and whether a probate lawyer is needed at all. It is far easier to start with that answer than to correct a decision made without it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who do you call first when someone dies in California?
Call the hospice nurse line if the person was in hospice, 911 if the death was unexpected at home, or rely on facility staff if the death occurred in a hospital or care facility. After that, notify close family and contact a funeral home.
How many death certificates do you need in California?
Order several certified copies. Banks, insurers, title companies, and agencies each typically want their own certified copy, and ordering extra at the start is faster than ordering again later.
Does everything go through probate when someone dies in California?
No. Assets in a funded living trust, in joint tenancy with survivorship, or with a named beneficiary pass outside probate. Assets in the person's name alone above the small estate limits generally require probate.
Can you access a deceased person's bank account in California?
Not without legal authority. A power of attorney ends at death. Access comes through a successor trustee, a court-appointed executor, a small estate affidavit, or a joint or payable-on-death designation on the account.
How long do you have to open probate in California?
Whoever holds the original will must deliver it to the court clerk within 30 days of learning of the death. The petition to open probate has no equally short deadline, but delay leaves property without anyone authorized to manage it.
What happens to a house when the owner dies in California?
It passes through the trust if it was titled in one, or through probate if it was titled in the owner's name alone. The mortgage stays with the property either way. See probate for real estate in California for how the court process treats a home.
Getting Help With the Next Step
Peaceful Warrior Law guides San Diego families through both paths: trust administration when a plan exists and probate when it does not. A free consultation is the quickest way to find out which path applies, what the first formal step is, and what can safely wait. Call before the big decisions are made, not after.
This article is a service of Brittany Cohen, Personal Family Lawyer®. We do not just draft documents; we ensure you make informed and empowered decisions about life and death, for yourself and the people you love. That’s why we offer a Comprehensive Estate Planning Session™, during which you will get more financially organized than you’ve ever been before and make all the best choices for the people you love. You can begin by calling our office today to schedule a Comprehensive Estate Planning Session and mention this article to find out how to get this $750 session at no charge.
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