Probate and Trust Administration Outline
If you need to wrap up the affairs of a deceased family member or friend in California, these are the steps:
- read the will or trust to the heirs and beneficiaries
- determine who inherits property if there is no will
- file probate paperwork with the superior court
- inventory and appraise the property
- collect life insurance and other benefits
- transfer community property to a surviving spouse or domestic partner
- pay bills and taxes
- prepare an accounting
- distribute property left through trusts or to individual heirs
- get receipts from beneficiaries