Losing someone you love is heartbreaking, and it’s natural to want to take care of legal matters right away. However, most important tasks cannot begin until you have original death certificates. When you order them, start with two copies, and then plan on getting one additional copy for each financial institution or credit card company the deceased used. If you need more later, additional copies can always be ordered.
One of the first notifications you’ll want to make is to Social Security. Often, the funeral director will report the death, but it’s important to follow up as soon as possible. Surviving family members may be eligible for Social Security benefits, and if the deceased was already receiving benefits, any payments issued for the month of death or afterward must be returned. If benefits were deposited directly, contact the bank to return any overpayments.
As you begin handling financial affairs, make sure to collect and open your loved one’s mail. Important bills, financial statements, notices, and subscription charges can arrive quickly. Notifying credit card companies and subscription services (magazines, cable, etc.) that your loved one has passed will help prevent unwanted charges — many of these companies will ask to see a death certificate.
Once you’re ready to address the estate, it’s important to understand that California has specific rules about how estates are handled after death. In general, there are two main ways an estate can be administered: probate and trust administration.
Probate is the court process used to transfer ownership of assets when someone dies without effective planning. In California, not every estate is required to go through probate. The law now allows for simplified procedures to settle smaller estates. For deaths on or after April 1, 2025, a “small estate” can bypass formal probate if the total value of probate assets is $208,850 or less. Probate assets are those owned solely by the deceased without beneficiary designations or joint ownership. (swiftprobate.com)
Additionally, major changes to the law now allow a primary residence valued up to $750,000 to transfer through a streamlined court process without formal probate, even if the total estate exceeds the small estate limit — as long as it was the decedent’s main home and proper procedures are followed. (moravecslaw.com)
If the estate exceeds these amounts or doesn’t qualify for the streamlined procedures, it must go through formal probate. Probate means the court supervises the transfer of assets to heirs. This process can be expensive, time-consuming, and public, often taking many months to more than a year to complete.
A living trust can help families avoid probate altogether. When a trust is in place before death, the successor trustee can begin trust administration on receiving the death certificate and work with an attorney to finalize all necessary paperwork. Trust administration is generally faster and less costly than probate, often completing in four to six months when there are no disputes.
Whether you’re facing probate or trust administration, it’s important to consult an experienced attorney. There are legal and tax deadlines that must be met and missing them can create delays or complications.
At Bryant Estate Planning & Elder Law, we strive to make these overwhelming tasks more manageable so you can focus on remembering your loved one rather than worrying about legal details.
Bryant Estate Planning & Elder Law offers a no-cost consultation to help you understand the process and make informed decisions. Call (408) 2862122 or visit BryantElderLaw.com to schedule your complimentary consultation.
Any content, resident submissions, guest columns, advertisements, and advertorials are not necessarily endorsed by or represent the views of Best Version Media LLC (BVM) or any municipality, homeowners associations, businesses, or organizations that this publication serves. BVM is not responsible for the reliability, suitability, or timeliness of any content submitted, inclusive of materials generated or composed through artificial intelligence (AI). All content submitted is done so at the sole discretion of the submitting party.
