California probate is a structured process governed by the Probate Code, supervised by the Superior Court, and bounded by statutory timelines that the personal representative must meet whether or not anyone has reminded them. For families coping with the death of a parent or spouse, the process arrives at the worst possible moment. Our role is to absorb the procedural burden, keep the matter moving on the court's calendar, and protect the personal representative from the personal liability that careless administration can create.
For more than four decades, Sanger & Molever has guided executors, administrators, and successor trustees through California post-death administration. Our practice covers small estates that qualify for summary procedures, routine probates that move through the standard nine-month framework, complex estates with operating businesses and tax exposure, and trust administrations that proceed without the court but with no less rigor.
Probate or trust administration?
The first question we answer for a family is whether court probate is required at all. An estate that holds California real property worth more than $184,500 (the current threshold for the Heggstad and small-estate procedures) typically requires a full probate unless the property is held in a trust, held in joint tenancy, or passes by beneficiary designation. Where the decedent maintained a properly funded revocable trust, the administration usually proceeds outside court—faster, less expensive, and far more private. Where the trust was never fully funded, hybrid administration involving both probate and trust work is sometimes required.
We diagnose the right path quickly: pull title to real property, review beneficiary designations, examine trust funding, and identify which assets will pass under court supervision and which will not. The decisions made in the first thirty days frame the speed and cost of the next nine months.
Opening the estate
For matters that require probate, we prepare and file the petition for probate, secure the issuance of letters testamentary or letters of administration, and qualify the personal representative. We then handle the statutory notices to heirs, beneficiaries, and creditors; arrange for the bond if one is required; coordinate with the court-appointed probate referee for the inventory and appraisal; and open the estate's bank and brokerage accounts under the new EIN.
Creditor claims and tax compliance
Creditor administration is one of the most consequential phases. Properly publishing the notice to creditors and serving direct notice on known creditors starts the four-month claims period; claims filed after that period are generally barred. We review each filed claim, recommend allowance or rejection, and pursue rejected claims through the §9353 framework where necessary.
Tax compliance runs in parallel. The decedent's final Form 1040 and California Form 540 are filed for the year of death; an estate tax return on Form 706 may be required if the estate exceeds the federal exemption; fiduciary income tax returns on Form 1041 and Form 541 are filed for each year the estate remains open. We coordinate with the family's outside CPA where one exists and prepare returns ourselves where it does not.
Accountings, distributions, and closing
Once the inventory is on file, creditor claims are addressed, and tax compliance is current, the matter moves toward distribution. We prepare the formal accounting, the petition for final distribution, and the orders that the court must enter before assets can be distributed. We then oversee the distribution itself—deeds for real property, transfer of securities, retitling of accounts, and payment of cash bequests and residuary shares.
Trust administration after death
Trust administration follows a different track than probate but carries comparable obligations. Within 60 days of becoming irrevocable, the successor trustee must serve the §16061.7 notification on every beneficiary and on every heir of the decedent. The notification triggers the 120-day period within which any contest must be filed. We prepare the notification promptly and oversee its proper service—a detail that, if overlooked, leaves the trust open to challenge for years.
From there, our administration work parallels what we do in probate: take control of trust assets, coordinate appraisals, handle creditor claims under the §19000 series, file the decedent's final returns and the trust's fiduciary returns, prepare the accounting, and supervise distribution to the beneficiaries.
Disputes and contested matters
Where a will or trust contest is filed, where beneficiaries disagree on distribution, or where the personal representative is challenged, the administration becomes contested litigation in addition to ongoing administration. We handle both sides of those matters and routinely coordinate with co-counsel on will and trust contests where the underlying capacity or undue-influence claim warrants specialized treatment.
A Palm Desert family engaged the firm after the death of the surviving parent. The decedent's revocable trust had been partially funded; one parcel of California real estate had never been transferred into the trust, requiring a parallel probate. We coordinated the probate and trust administration on a single calendar, completed both within twelve months, filed all required tax returns, and distributed the estate to the four beneficiaries with full receipts and releases. The matter closed with no contested issues.
If you have been named as executor, successor trustee, or administrator—or if you simply do not know whether the family's situation requires probate at all—we are available for an initial confidential consultation.