Sell Inherited Property in California

Selling inherited property in California depends on how title was held, whether probate is required, whether the property is community or separate property, and whether California-specific issues like Proposition 19 reassessment, the statutory probate fee schedule, or the level of authority the court grants the personal representative affect the sale.

• California has no estate tax and no inheritance tax. Selling an inherited home creates no state-level death tax. A later sale can still create federal and California income-tax consequences on any gain, though the stepped-up basis often reduces it, and California taxes gains as ordinary income with no separate capital-gains rate.
• Opening probate is not the same as having authority to sell. A personal representative with limited authority under the Independent Administration of Estates Act generally needs court supervision and a confirmation hearing to sell real estate, while full authority generally allows a sale without court confirmation.
• Many modest estates can avoid full probate. A 2025 law raised the threshold for a simplified primary-residence petition to $750,000, and separate affidavit procedures cover personal property and certain low-value real property.
• Proposition 19 can reassess an inherited home. A child keeps a parent’s low property-tax base only on a qualifying family home, and only if an eligible child makes it their principal residence within one year and keeps it that way. Rentals and vacation homes are reassessed to full market value.
• California protects co-heirs from a forced auction in qualifying cases. For qualifying tenancy-in-common property with no binding recorded agreement, the law generally provides an appraisal, a buyout opportunity, and an open-market sale before a courthouse auction.

Whether inherited property in California requires probate depends on how title was held and, for married couples, on whether the property is community or separate. Property that passed through a revocable trust, a valid recorded transfer-on-death deed, joint tenancy, or community property with right of survivorship generally transfers outside probate. Solely titled property, and a deceased spouse’s half of community property with no survivorship feature, generally requires probate or one of the simplified procedures in the transfer-paths section below.

There is a second question heirs often miss: even in probate, the personal representative needs the legal authority to sell. Opening a case and being able to sign a deed are two different things, and which one you have depends on the type of authority the court grants. Each title situation below assumes the document is valid, properly recorded, and supported by the title history, so treat these as starting points.

• Sole ownership: Probate (or alternative). Passes by will or intestacy; needs probate or a statutory procedure to clear title.
• Joint tenancy: No probate, if valid. The surviving owner takes title, usually after recording an affidavit of death and a change-in-ownership form.
• Community property with right of survivorship: No probate. Passes to the surviving spouse or registered domestic partner if validly created.
• Community property, no survivorship: Probate for the decedent’s half. The surviving spouse keeps their own half automatically; the deceased spouse’s half passes by will or intestacy.
• Tenancy in common: Probate (or alternative). The deceased co-owner’s fractional share passes by will or intestacy.
• Revocable living trust: No probate. The successor trustee distributes or sells under the trust terms.
• Recorded transfer-on-death deed: No probate. Passes to the named beneficiary if recorded before death, unrevoked, and otherwise valid.

For how probate and the inherited-property process work as concepts, see our guide to probate real estate.

California is a community property state with no estate tax and no inheritance tax. Its defining features for inherited real estate are property character, which classifies a home as community, quasi-community, or separate and drives who inherits and how the home is taxed on a sale, and the practical reality that the meaningful cost of dying with California real estate is the statutory probate fee schedule plus Proposition 19 reassessment, not a death tax. Title to real property passes to the heirs or devisees at death, subject to estate administration, the decedent’s debts, court authority, and title-company underwriting.

California has three mechanics that distinguish it from most other states for inherited real estate: community property as the threshold classification, Proposition 19 reassessment on a parent-to-child transfer, and a statutory probate fee schedule that charges on gross value and can effectively double across the representative and the attorney.

Why Does Community Property Matter for Inherited Property in California?

Before any California inheritance question can be answered, the property must be classified as community, quasi-community, or separate. Property acquired during marriage while domiciled in California is often presumed community property, but classification can change based on the source of funds, a premarital or marital agreement, a valid transmutation, and the title history. Quasi-community property is out-of-state property that would have been community property if it had been acquired in California. A spouse can will away only their own half of community property; they cannot reach the surviving spouse’s automatic half. This classification drives who inherits, what the surviving spouse already owns, and how the property is taxed on a later sale.

How Does Proposition 19 Affect an Inherited California Home?

Proposition 19 can reassess an inherited home to full market value unless a narrow parent-child exclusion applies. A child keeps the parent’s lower property-tax base only on a qualifying family home, and only if an eligible child makes it their principal residence within one year of the transfer and continues to live there. A rental, vacation home, or investment property gets no exclusion and is reassessed to market value. This is the single largest property-tax issue for an inheriting child in California, and the full eligibility rules and cap are in the Proposition 19 section below.

Why Are California Probate Fees So High?

California sets a statutory ordinary-compensation schedule for the personal representative and the estate’s attorney, calculated on the gross value of the estate accounted for, with no reduction for mortgages or other debts. Because the representative and the attorney can each receive the full scheduled amount, the combined figure can be substantial on a high-value home. On a $910,000 estate, the combined ordinary compensation can reach about $42,400, calculated on the full value even when a large mortgage leaves much less equity. The full schedule and a worked example are in the probate-cost section below.

California recognizes several forms of ownership that determine whether inherited property passes through probate and who has the power to sign the deed. Two features stand out: California does not recognize tenancy by the entirety (the community property system fills that role for married couples), and California presumes a tenancy in common between co-owners unless a valid survivorship feature was created. Every row below assumes the underlying document or title feature is valid and applicable; defects in recording, beneficiary designations, or the title history can change the result.

A revocable transfer-on-death deed works only if properly completed, recorded before death, and not revoked, and if the named beneficiary survives. It can leave the property exposed to the deceased owner’s creditors for a period and does not override a competing survivorship feature on the same property. If your family is relying on one, confirm it was recorded correctly before counting on it. For how to keep property out of probate in general, see our guide to how to avoid probate on inherited property.

When someone dies without a will in California, the surviving spouse’s share depends on whether the property is community, quasi-community, or separate, and on how many children or other relatives survive. For community and quasi-community property, the surviving spouse generally keeps their own half and inherits the decedent’s half, ending up with the whole interest. Separate property is divided between the spouse and the decedent’s other relatives.

For community and quasi-community property, the decedent’s one-half passes to the surviving spouse, so the spouse generally holds the whole interest (Cal. Prob. Code §§6401 and 100). When there is no surviving spouse, the estate passes to the decedent’s children and then down the line of relatives: parents, then the parents’ issue, then grandparents, and onward (Cal. Prob. Code §6402).

Several California-specific rules sit on top of these formulas. An heir generally must survive the decedent by at least 120 hours to inherit (Cal. Prob. Code §6403). Adopted children inherit as biological children, half-blood relatives inherit as whole-blood, and a child conceived before but born after death can inherit, while stepchildren generally do not inherit unless legally adopted. Registered domestic partners are treated like spouses (Cal. Fam. Code §297.5). In a narrow situation, when someone dies with no spouse and no children but had received real property from a spouse who died within the prior 15 years (or certain personal property within 5 years), the portion of the estate attributable to that predeceased spouse can pass to the predeceased spouse’s relatives instead (Cal. Prob. Code §6402.5), an outcome most online guides leave out.

Formal probate in California commonly takes many months and can run longer when a sale, creditor issues, valuation disputes, or litigation are involved. It happens in the Superior Court of the county where the decedent lived. Most California estates are administered under the Independent Administration of Estates Act, which reduces court involvement but is still full probate, not a shortcut. The main steps generally run in this order:

1. File the petition for probate (Form DE-111) and ask the court to appoint a personal representative.
2. Receive the order for probate (Form DE-140) and Letters (Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration), which establish the representative’s authority once issued.
3. Give notice to creditors and publish notice, opening the creditor claim window.
4. Inventory and appraise the estate, with real property valued by a court-appointed probate referee.
5. Pay valid debts, taxes, and expenses of administration.
6. File a petition for final distribution and distribute what remains.

A creditor generally must file a claim by the later of four months after Letters are first issued to a general personal representative, or 60 days after notice of administration is mailed or personally delivered to that creditor (Cal. Prob. Code §9100). These obligations work differently from one another and do not simply disappear at death: unsecured claims such as credit cards or medical bills must be filed within the window or they are generally barred; mortgage and property-tax liens stay attached to the property and are typically paid from sale proceeds at closing; HOA balances generally must be brought current for a sale to close; and a Medi-Cal estate-recovery claim, if it applies, has to be addressed. California probate is handled at the county level, and large counties such as Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange, Santa Clara, and Sacramento run dedicated probate calendars, which affects how quickly hearings are scheduled and how predictable the timeline is.

California offers several procedures that can transfer inherited property without full formal probate. The right one depends on whether the asset is the primary residence, its gross value, whether it is real or personal property, and whether the property is passing to a surviving spouse. These are not interchangeable; each has a specific use, and some require a court order even though they are faster than full probate. The figures below apply to deaths on or after April 1, 2025, and are scheduled to be adjusted again on April 1, 2028. Values use gross value, not equity, so a mortgage does not reduce the qualifying number.

Two points drive most California mistakes. Because a primary residence transferred by the Section 13151 primary-residence petition is excluded from the personal-property affidavit calculation, some estates can use the $750,000 petition for the home and the small estate affidavit for personal property in the same estate, moving both without full probate. And the spousal property petition has no dollar limit and is often the most efficient route when a spouse or registered domestic partner is entitled to the property. The current thresholds and the date-of-death rule are set out on the Judicial Council’s maximum-values form (DE-300).

Often, yes. A personal representative may be able to list and sell before final distribution, but the route depends on whether the estate has full or limited authority under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. Full or limited authority is requested from the court, and whether the court grants full authority depends on the petition, any objections, the will, and the circumstances of the estate.

With full authority, the representative can generally list, accept an offer, and close without a court confirmation hearing. Before the sale, the representative gives a Notice of Proposed Action to affected heirs and beneficiaries, generally at least 15 days ahead, and if a recipient files a timely objection, the matter can shift to court supervision. With limited authority, selling real estate generally requires court supervision and confirmation (Cal. Prob. Code §10501). When a sale needs confirmation, it usually triggers an overbid process: at the hearing, another qualified buyer can bid higher than the accepted offer.

When a sale needs confirmation, the minimum first overbid is generally the accepted offer plus 10% of the first $10,000 plus 5% of the remaining balance (Cal. Prob. Code §10311). On a $500,000 accepted offer, the first overbid would start near $525,500, and the judge sets the increments after that. As an example, a Los Angeles home titled only in a parent’s name may be listed once a personal representative is appointed, but whether the accepted offer can close without a confirmation hearing depends on whether the estate has full or limited authority. The title company will still need to be satisfied before closing, but title insurance is the closing gate, not the source of the representative’s authority to sell. For the process once a representative is appointed, see our guide to what a personal representative needs to do to sell inherited property, and for how probate sales compare to trust sales, see probate sale vs. trust sale.

California sets a statutory ordinary-compensation schedule for the personal representative and the estate’s attorney, calculated on the gross value of the estate accounted for, with no reduction for mortgages. The representative and the attorney can each receive the full scheduled amount: 4% of the first $100,000, 3% of the next $100,000, 2% of the next $800,000, 1% of the next $9,000,000, 0.5% of the next $15,000,000, and a reasonable amount set by the court above $25,000,000.

On a gross estate of $910,000, each side’s ordinary compensation is $4,000 + $3,000 + $14,200 = $21,200. If both the representative and the attorney take the full scheduled amount, the combined ordinary compensation is $42,400, calculated on the full $910,000 even if a $400,000 mortgage leaves about $510,000 of equity. This is ordinary compensation only. It does not include court filing fees, the probate-referee fee, bond premiums, extraordinary fees for unusual work, or other administration costs. The schedule governs ordinary compensation but is not an automatic maximum bill; compensation may be waived (a family member serving as representative may waive their fee, which is otherwise taxable income), reduced by agreement, or challenged, and the court oversees it.

California has no elective share, the mechanism many states use to stop a spouse from being disinherited. The community property system is the substitute, because the surviving spouse already owns half of all community property outright, and the decedent’s will can only control the decedent’s own half. The protections that surprise families most are the family-home rights that exist regardless of who ultimately inherits. Several arise during administration and are subject to court discretion, so they are protections a court can grant, not automatic outcomes:

• Temporary possession of the family home. The surviving spouse and minor children may remain in the dwelling and use exempt household property, generally while the inventory is prepared and for a period after it is filed, unless the court orders otherwise (Cal. Prob. Code §§6500–6501).
• Probate homestead. A court may set aside the family home for the surviving spouse for a limited period or for life, even if it would otherwise pass to other heirs; the duration is capped and can sometimes outlast the probate (§§6520–6528).
• Exempt property set-aside. A court may set aside certain creditor-exempt property to the surviving spouse or minor children (§§6510–6511).
• Family allowance. A court may grant a reasonable allowance to support the surviving spouse and minor children during administration, paid before distribution and subject to statutory conditions (§§6540–6545).

California also protects an omitted spouse or child, someone married or born into the family after the will was signed and not provided for. An omitted spouse generally receives the decedent’s half of community and quasi-community property plus a separate-property share similar to an intestate share, capped at one-half of separate property, but statutory exceptions apply, including intentional omission, provision made outside the will, or a valid waiver (§§21610–21612, with parallel child protection at §§21620–21623). For a surviving spouse who ends up owning and selling the family home, see our guide to selling a house after the death of a spouse.

Does California Have an Estate or Inheritance Tax?

California has no estate tax and no inheritance tax. The state’s former “pick-up” estate tax remains on the books but is inoperative, so heirs selling an inherited home face no state-level death tax. The only death tax that could reach an estate is the federal estate tax, which applies to very few estates given the multimillion-dollar federal exemption.

What Is the Capital Gains Tax on Inherited Property in California?

California has no separate capital-gains rate; it taxes capital gains as ordinary income, topping out at 13.3% (the 12.3% top bracket plus a 1% surcharge on taxable income over $1 million), with no preferential long-term-gain treatment. The federal picture is usually friendlier because of the stepped-up basis: when you inherit, the property’s basis generally resets to its fair-market value at the date of death, so gain is measured from that value rather than what the parent originally paid. Because California is a community property state, both halves of community property generally receive a step-up at the first spouse’s death, not just the deceased spouse’s half. How much it helps depends on whether the property was community property, the documented date-of-death value, post-death appreciation, prior depreciation, improvements, selling costs, and timing. For how the federal stepped-up basis works and how to estimate gain on a sale, see our guide to capital gains tax on inherited property.

Does California Withhold Tax When Inherited Property Is Sold?

California real-estate withholding can apply at closing (reported on Form 593) unless an exemption, a reduced-withholding election, or another exception applies. It is generally a prepayment collected at closing, not necessarily the final tax owed, and any difference is sorted out when the seller files. Out-of-state sellers in particular should expect it to be addressed at closing rather than be surprised by it.

Does Inheriting Property in California Trigger Property Tax Reassessment?

Usually yes, through Proposition 19, unless a qualifying child satisfies California’s family-home exclusion. Proposition 19 replaced the old, broad parent-to-child exclusion with a narrow one for a qualifying family home, and whether you keep the home or sell it is largely a Proposition 19 decision. For inherited property, the transfer date for these rules is generally the date of death. To qualify for the parent-child exclusion, all of these generally must be true: the home was the parent’s principal residence (or qualifies as a family farm); an eligible child makes the home their principal residence within one year of the transfer; the child continues to use it as a principal residence; and the child files the exclusion claim (Form BOE-19-P) and the homeowners’ exemption (Form BOE-266) on time, generally within three years of the transfer or before a transfer to a third party, whichever comes first, with late filing allowing only prospective relief.

Even when the home qualifies, the exclusion is capped. For transfers between February 16, 2025 and February 15, 2027, the excluded amount is the parent’s factored base year value plus $1,044,586, and value above the cap is added to the new taxable value. The California State Board of Equalization adjusts the cap every other year using the Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index for California, as set out in its Letter to Assessors on the intergenerational transfer exclusion. As an illustration, if a parent’s factored base year value is $300,000 and the home is worth $1,500,000 when the child inherits and moves in, the excluded amount is $300,000 + $1,044,586 = $1,344,586, the $155,414 difference is added to the base, and the child’s new taxable value is about $455,414 rather than the full $1,500,000. If the child does not move in within one year, the home is reassessed to full market value and the exclusion is lost.

When several children inherit, only one needs to make the home their principal residence for the exclusion to apply, and they must file the homeowners’ exemption. If one sibling wants to live there while others want to be paid out, the family is weighing a buyout against a sale. One last point worth stating plainly: qualifying for the Proposition 19 property-tax exclusion does not create a capital-gains exclusion when the home is later sold. They are two different tax systems. Moving in to preserve the tax base is a property-tax decision; it does not, by itself, erase capital-gains tax on a future sale.

To sell inherited property in California, the title company needs proof of who has legal authority to sign the deed, and that proof depends on how the property is passing. The signer is the personal representative for estate property, the surviving spouse or partner for property cleared by a spousal petition, the successor trustee for trust property, and the surviving owner for survivorship property.

When a home passed automatically to a surviving owner, the survivor generally records an affidavit of death of joint tenant (or of spouse) along with a Preliminary Change of Ownership Report with the county recorder and county assessor. This updates the public record so the property can be sold. California counties and many cities also charge a documentary transfer tax when a deed is recorded, and rates vary by location, so it is a closing cost to plan for, separate from any income or property tax. Before listing, it also helps to confirm how title was held, gather the documents you need to sell inherited property such as the deed, death certificate, will, trust, and any Letters or court order, order or review a preliminary title report, keep the mortgage, property taxes, HOA, insurance, and utilities current, and preserve a supportable date-of-death value for tax-basis purposes. A death does not erase the mortgage, and the loan balance, taxes, dues, and deferred maintenance all affect net proceeds, so confirm loan payoff or assumption terms before making changes. For what those monthly costs look like, see our guide to carrying costs on inherited property, and for how debt affects an inherited home, see our guide to inherited property and debt.

When several heirs inherit a home together and cannot agree on what to do, the first practical question is whether the family can resolve it voluntarily before anyone files in court. If one heir wants to keep the home, the usual route is an appraisal and a buyout discussion. If no one can fund a buyout, a voluntary open-market listing splits the proceeds by share. If one heir is living in the home, a written occupancy, cost-sharing, and sale-timeline agreement helps. A partition action is the last resort.

If a voluntary path fails, any co-owner may file a partition action. California law now protects co-owners against the old outcome of a quick courthouse auction at a below-market price, though those protections apply most directly to qualifying tenancy-in-common property when no binding recorded agreement governs partition. California adopted the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act in 2021, and the Partition of Real Property Act extended similar protections to essentially all co-owned tenancy-in-common real property effective January 1, 2023. In qualifying cases, a partition action generally follows a protective sequence: the court determines fair-market value, usually by independent appraisal, unless the owners agree; co-owners who did not ask to sell generally get the chance to buy out the share of the one who did, at the appraised pro-rata price, before any sale; the court generally prefers to physically divide the property unless that would cause great prejudice, which is usually the case for a single home; and if a sale is ordered, it is generally an open-market sale through a broker, not an automatic auction, unless the court finds another method is better for the owners as a group. A single inherited house usually cannot be divided, so the realistic outcomes are a buyout or an open-market sale. For how a forced sale works as a concept, see our guide to whether a sibling can force the sale of inherited property.

Out-of-state heirs selling California property usually need to solve the California title issue in California, even when the main probate is happening somewhere else. The question is not simply where the heirs live; it is whether the California property can pass through a non-probate transfer or a California shortcut, and if not, whether ancillary probate in California is required to clear title. California courts handle title to California land, so a sister-state court generally cannot transfer it directly. A representative appointed by the home-state court generally has priority to handle the California ancillary proceeding, subject to the will and California’s rules. An out-of-state executor is not automatically barred from selling California real estate; they typically need to clear the California title issue first. A common example is an out-of-state family that inherits a Lake Tahoe vacation home and must clear California title before selling, even though the main estate is handled elsewhere. For the general mechanics of probate across state lines, see our guide to ancillary probate.

• Some sources state that California heirs owe a state inheritance or estate tax on a sale. California has neither; the only death tax that can apply is the federal estate tax, which reaches very few estates.
• Some sources cite outdated small-estate figures such as $166,250 or $184,500. The current figures for deaths on or after April 1, 2025 are $208,850 for the personal-property affidavit, $750,000 for the primary-residence petition, and $69,625 for the small-value real-property affidavit.
• Some sources treat the small-value real-property affidavit and the primary-residence petition as the same thing. They are separate procedures with different thresholds and waiting periods.
• Some sources say opening probate is enough to sell the home. It is not; the representative needs full or limited authority, and limited authority generally requires court confirmation to sell real estate.
• Some sources say moving into an inherited home to keep the Proposition 19 tax base also avoids capital-gains tax on a later sale. Those are two different tax systems; the property-tax exclusion does not create a capital-gains exclusion.

This page reflects current 2026 California rules. Recent and pending changes that matter to heirs:

• Assembly Bill 2016 (Stats. 2024, ch. 331), effective April 1, 2025. Raised the threshold for the simplified primary-residence petition from $184,500 to $750,000 and limited it to the decedent’s California primary residence. This is the headline change for modest estates.
• “Fix Proposition 19” repeal effort (pending, not enacted). A voter-led effort to roll back Proposition 19’s inheritance restrictions has been discussed; it is not current law, and heirs should plan as though current Proposition 19 rules apply unless and until it passes.
• Triennial threshold adjustment, next on April 1, 2028. The small-estate dollar figures are adjusted every three years (Cal. Prob. Code §890), so the current numbers hold through March 31, 2028.
• Proposition 19 cap adjustment. The parent-child exclusion cap is adjusted every other year by the State Board of Equalization; it is $1,044,586 for transfers from February 16, 2025 through February 15, 2027, with the next adjustment in February 2027.