Probate is how a court settles what a person left behind. It confirms the will, or works out who inherits if there isn’t one, and gives one person the authority to pay the debts and pass on what’s left. Not every estate needs it. California’s courts put a full case at 9 to 18 months, and a small estate can take weeks.
This page is general information, not legal or tax advice. Estate law varies by state and changes. Ask the court clerk, or a lawyer or tax professional, about your case.
This guide takes the questions in the order most families meet them, and each part ends at the page that goes deeper. Each state writes its own rules, so the state examples are only examples, all read on 5 November 2026 in the statute or court page linked. If someone close to you has just died, we’re sorry. Very little of this has to happen today.
What probate does
In New York the word strictly means proving a will is valid. Most people use it for the whole court process, will or no will, and so do we. That process does four jobs:
- It settles who inherits. The court accepts a will or rejects it. With no will, state law picks the heirs.
- It gives one person authority. Being named in a will isn’t enough. In California, “A person has no power to administer the estate until the person is appointed personal representative and the appointment becomes effective” (Prob. Code 8400).
- It deals with the debts. Debts are “generally paid out of the money or property left in the estate”, the federal consumer bureau says. Probate gives creditors notice and a deadline to claim.
- It moves title. Without it, a deed or an account in one name can stay in a dead person’s name.
Start with what probate is, in plain words if terms like decedent, administrator or personal representative are new to you.
Whether this estate needs it
The test is how each thing was owned, not what the will says. Massachusetts’ court puts it clearly: whether an estate has to be probated “depends on how the decedent’s (the person who has died) property is titled (owned) when they die.” With a list of what the person owned, ask four questions:
- What was in the person’s name alone?
- Does any of it pass by itself, through a surviving co-owner with survivorship rights, a living beneficiary on the form, or a trust that holds it?
- Does what’s left fit a small estate route, on both the dollar limit and the type of property?
- Does anyone need court authority anyway, for debts, a lawsuit, a dispute or land in another state?
Having a will doesn’t settle it. California’s court says “A person’s estate may need to go through probate even if they had a will.” One house in a sole name can mean a case even if every account passed directly. Our page on when probate is required walks through the four questions, the catches on each way of passing property, and state deadlines for opening a case.
Most states have a shorter route for small estates, and they differ a lot. California’s affidavit covers up to $208,850 gross, with listed exclusions, for deaths on or after 1 April 2025 (Prob. Code 13100; form DE-300). New York’s voluntary administration covers $50,000 gross of personal property (SCPA 1301). These limits count different things, and many don’t reach a house. The small estate affidavit guide explains how each kind works.
You may see firms say to avoid probate at all costs. We found no rule behind that. The ways of avoiding it have trade-offs, and most have to be set up before death.
What happens in a full case
This is the usual order. Steps overlap, and each state sets the details.
- Find the original will and hand it in. Whoever holds it may have a deadline even if nobody plans to open probate. California allows 30 days from knowing of the death (Prob. Code 8200).
- File the petition. The usual case starts in the county where the person lived.
- Tell the family. The people who’d inherit get formal notice and a chance to object.
- Get appointed. The court issues the paper that proves the person’s authority, usually called letters testamentary when there’s a will.
- List what the estate owns. The executor finds and values the probate property.
- Give creditors their chance. The executor gives notice, and creditors get a set time to claim. Only the estate generally owes the debts, not the executor. How debts work at death covers the exceptions, including the IRS manual’s warning on federal tax debts in an insolvent estate (31 USC 3713(b)).
- Pay debts and file tax returns. The person’s final income tax return is generally due April 15 of the year after death, and the estate files its own return for a year with $600 or more of gross income. See taxes for someone who has died.
- Report, pay out and close. The executor reports what came in and went out, then distributes what’s left.
How closely a court watches depends on the state, the size of the estate and whether anyone objects. In Minnesota, a registrar can issue informal probate with no hearing needed (Minn. Stat. 524.3-302). In Texas, an independent executor can take most steps without a court order (Est. Code 402.002). A disputed will usually ends up before a judge. See the executor’s job in order.
How long it takes
California’s courts say formal probate “typically takes 9 to 18 months and can sometimes take even longer.” Oregon gives the best hard numbers we found. Of the 11,796 estate cases its courts closed in 2025, 63.3% closed within 360 days, and 13.4%, about one in seven, ran past 720 days. That’s one state and one year, and we found no national figure.
Part of the time is waiting the law requires. Creditor windows and tax dates set much of the pace. A will contest, missing heirs or debts close to the assets can add more. Our page on how long probate takes goes stage by stage, with the deadlines in six states. Waiting on an inheritance? Read how long an executor has to pay beneficiaries.
What it costs
Probate has no standard price, and no court source we read gives a national figure. The costs can include court fees, executor and lawyer pay, an appraisal, a newspaper notice and a bond. Filing fees are the small part: New York’s run from $45 to $1,250 by estate size (SCPA 2402). On a $500,000 estate in California, the fees set by Prob. Code 10800 and 10810, with a filing fee and a probate referee, come to about $26,900 if the executor and the lawyer both take their full fee. That falls to about $13,900 if a family executor takes nothing. Many states have no schedule at all and say only “reasonable compensation”, as Arizona does (A.R.S. 14-3719).
You may see “probate costs 3 to 7%” on law firm pages. We looked for a study behind it and didn’t find one. California’s schedule shows why one percentage can’t be right: with both fees, the filing fee and a referee, the total is 8.5% of a $100,000 estate and 3.4% of a $2,000,000 one. These costs generally come out of the estate, though California’s courts say the representative may have to “pay them upfront and get paid back from the estate later”. The probate cost calculator adds up the published rules for ten states and leaves everything else for you to enter. It gives an estimate, not a quote.
When to talk to a lawyer
Whether you need one depends on the state and the estate. In Florida, a personal representative “must be represented by an attorney admitted to practice in Florida”, unless they remain the sole interested person or are a Florida attorney themselves (Probate Rule 5.030).
A lawyer is worth talking to if a deadline is running, the will is disputed, you suspect fraud, the estate may not cover its debts, there’s a business, or the heirs are in conflict. How a will contest works sets out that process.
Your next step
Start by finding out whether a court case is needed at all:
- Find the original will. Don’t change or remove anything.
- Make one list of what the person owned, with how each item is titled: the deed, car title, recent account statements, and any life insurance or retirement forms.
- Note the debts you know of.
- Call the probate clerk in the county where they lived. Ask whether a small estate route fits, what forms a case needs, and what the filing fee is.
Paying debts, handing out belongings and selling the house can usually wait until someone has authority. Keeping a house insured and locked can’t.
Sources checked on 5 November 2026.
