What to Do When Someone Dies in California: A First-30-Days Checklist

Losing someone is overwhelming, and the paperwork can feel like it's arriving all at once. It doesn't have to. Almost nothing has to happen on day one, and most of what follows can be done calmly, in order, over the first few weeks.

This is a checklist for the first 30 days in California — what to take care of, roughly when, and what can safely wait. The good news at the end: most estates never need full, expensive probate. California has several simpler, cheaper ways to transfer what someone leaves behind, and you can find out which one applies before you file anything in court.

Take a breath first

There is no 24-hour clock on most of this. The few time-sensitive things — arranging care of the body and notifying close family — are covered first. Everything else — apart from delivering an original will to the court clerk within 30 days — can wait until you're ready.

The first day or two

1. Get a legal pronouncement and notify the right people

Before anything else, the death has to be legally pronounced — that's what allows a death certificate to be issued.

• If the death happened at home and was unexpected, call 911.
• If the person was under hospice care or the death was expected, call the hospice or the attending physician, who can pronounce the death.
• If it happened in a hospital or care facility, the staff will handle the pronouncement.

Then notify close family and the people who need to know before you move on to logistics.

2. Arrange care of the body

Choose a funeral home, mortuary or cremation provider and arrange for them to take the deceased into their care. Before you decide, check for:

• a prepaid funeral plan or written wishes,
• instructions in the will (though don't delay care to go hunting for it), and
• veteran's benefits, if the person served.

The provider you choose will guide you through the rest and is often the one who reports the death to the Social Security Administration — useful to know for later.

The first week

3. Secure the home, property and pets

Whoever is stepping in to handle things has a real responsibility here: protect the property before any transfer happens.

• Lock and check the residence. Bring in the mail, secure valuables and important documents.
• Make sure pets are cared for right away.
• Keep the home insured and the essential bills (utilities, insurance) from lapsing.
• Don't give away, sell, or distribute anything yet — not furniture, not accounts, not the car. Sorting out who is entitled to what comes later, after you know which transfer path the estate uses.

Resist the urge to settle up early

It's natural to want to pay off the deceased's bills or hand out keepsakes quickly. Hold off. How and when debts get paid — and who is legally entitled to receive assets — depends on the path the estate takes. Acting out of order can create problems for the person managing the estate.

4. Locate the will and any trust

Look for the key documents:

• an original signed will (named in it: an executor and beneficiaries),
• a living trust, if one exists,
• beneficiary designations on life insurance, retirement and payable-on-death accounts, and
• deeds and account statements that show how property was titled.

One thing to keep in mind: a will does not decide whether probate is required. It says who should receive things, but how the assets were titled and what they're worth is what determines the path. Many estates with a will still qualify for the simpler routes below.

If you have the original will, California law requires you to deliver it to the clerk of the superior court in the county where the estate may be administered within 30 days after learning of the death, and deliver a copy to the person named as executor — unless a petition to probate the will has already been filed (Probate Code §8200). The clerk charges a $50 fee.

If the assets are held in a living trust, they're generally handled through trust administration — usually outside of court — and the successor trustee has a duty to send the beneficiaries and heirs a specific notice within 60 days.

5. Order several certified death certificates

You'll need certified copies of the death certificate to do almost everything that follows — closing accounts, claiming insurance, transferring property.

• Order them from CDPH Vital Records or the county recorder or health department where the death occurred.
• Order several. Most institutions keep the copy you give them, so one per bank, insurer and agency is a safe assumption.
• Expect a modest per-copy fee that varies by county.
• Close relatives can usually get "authorized certified" copies; others may only be able to obtain "informational" copies, which some institutions won't accept.

There's a separate, more detailed walkthrough here: how to get a death certificate in California.

The first 30 days

6. Notify Social Security, banks, and the post office

Once you have certified death certificates, start the notifications:

• Social Security Administration. The funeral home often reports the death, but confirm it was done, and ask about any survivor or one-time death benefits.
• Banks and creditors. Notify the deceased's banks; don't drain or rush to close accounts, just put them on notice.
• The post office. Forward or hold the mail so bills, statements and notices don't pile up unseen — they often reveal accounts and obligations you didn't know about.
• Medi-Cal. If the person received Medi-Cal, or was the surviving spouse of someone who did, notice of the death — with a copy of the death certificate — must go to the Department of Health Care Services within 90 days of the death (Probate Code §215).
• Other agencies and providers as they come up: pensions, the DMV, insurers, utilities.

7. Don't rush to open probate

This is the step most people get wrong. There's a common belief that you have to race to court to "open the estate." In California, nothing forces you to open formal probate in the first 30 days — and full, formal probate typically takes 9 to 18 months and is the most expensive route.

Before you file anything in court, it's worth finding out whether you even need to.

8. Find out whether probate is even required

Here's the reassuring part: most California estates qualify for a cheaper, faster summary path — and many avoid court entirely. Which one fits depends on the assets and how they were titled:

• Small-estate affidavit (§13100) — collects personal property (bank accounts, securities) when the gross value of the decedent's California real and personal property, not counting trust, joint-tenancy, POD and other excluded assets, is $208,850 or less for deaths on or after April 1, 2025. No court filing, but a 40-day wait from the date of death. It does not transfer real estate.
• Affidavit of Death of Joint Tenant — property held in joint tenancy passes to the surviving joint tenant by recording an affidavit with the County Recorder. No court.
• Affidavit of Death of Spouse — for community property with right of survivorship passing to a surviving spouse.
• Spousal Property Petition (DE-221) — a court petition for an order confirming property passing to a surviving spouse or registered domestic partner.
• Transfer-on-death deed — if the home was set up with a TOD deed; the beneficiary records an affidavit of death and must serve notice on the transferor's heirs.
• Succession to a primary residence (DE-310 / §13151) — for a primary residence worth up to $750,000 for deaths on or after April 1, 2025. Requires a probate-referee appraisal and one hearing.
• Small-value real property affidavit (DE-305 / §13200) — when all of the decedent's California real property together is $69,625 or less (deaths on or after April 1, 2025), with a 6-month wait, filed with the court clerk and no hearing.
• Transfer a vehicle after death — a DMV form (REG 5) can transfer vehicles and boats when no probate is open and nothing else needs probate.

Not sure which of these fits? You don't have to memorize the rules. The fastest way to find out is to answer a few questions about the estate — the screener below shows the published requirements for each transfer path next to your answers, so you can decide (and see whether any court process is even needed).

A note on doing it yourself

Every one of the paths above is something you can do on your own — the statutes are public. The catch is that each one is a per-institution or per-court tracking job: a separate presentation to every bank and brokerage, the right forms and waits for each, enough certified death certificates, and chasing whoever loses paperwork along the way.

A registered Legal Document Assistant can prepare and file these documents at your direction, gather what each institution and court asks for, and handle the paperwork for one flat fee — so you're not discovering the surprises one at a time. Or, if you'd rather, use this guide to do it yourself. Either way, the first move is the same: find out which path the estate actually needs before assuming it's full probate.

See also: Do I need probate in California?