Pittsburg, CA asked in Probate for California

Q: Do I need to file as personal representative of the Estate before filing petition of small estate166,222 or less?

Would like to file for determination of succession of real and personal property under 166,222 in California. Home has mortgage of 150000 and no other assets. Small amount in checking but that's all.

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1 Lawyer Answer
John B. Palley
John B. Palley
Answered
  • Probate Lawyer
  • Roseville, CA
  • Licensed in California

A: You do not need to file to be PR before filing a small estate petition. However, you do need to get the house valued by a California Probate Referee for that county. Also, the mortgage does not play into the valuation. The $166,250 value is just based on the gross value of the property. So you can usually look at a website like Zillow to get a rough idea of the value if you don't know. If the value is significantly higher than $166,250 then you will need to do a full probate. Good luck.

Shawna Murray and James Edward Berge agree with this answer

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