Courts Determining Property Succession

Division 8, Part 1, Chapter 4 deals court orders determining succession to property in the disposition of estates without administration.

Section 13150 provides that the procedure provided by this chapter may be used only if one of the three specified requirements is satisfied.

Section 13151 states that, if a decedent dies leaving real property that was their primary residence in this state and the gross value of that real property does not exceed $750,000, as adjusted periodically, and 40 days have elapsed since the death of the decedent, the successor of the decedent to an interest in that real property, without procuring letters of administration or awaiting the probate of the will, may file a petition in the superior court of the county in which the estate of the decedent may be administered requesting a court order determining that the petitioner has succeeded to that real property.

Section 13152 requires the petition to be verified by each petitioner to contain a request that the court make an order under this chapter determining that the property described in the petition is property passing to the petitioner, and is required to specify eight items. An inventory and appraisal in the specified form of the real property that was the decedent’s primary residence in this state must be attached to the petition.

The appraisal must be made by a probate referee selected by the petitioner from those probate referees appointed by the Controller to appraise property in the county where the real property is located. The appraisal must be made as provided in law.

Section 13153 requires notice of the hearing to be given to each of the persons named in the petition.

Section 13154 states, if the court makes the determinations required, the court is required to issue an order determining that the real property that was the decedent’s primary residence, to be described in the order, is property passing to the petitioners and the specific property interest of each petitioner in the described property. The court may make an order under this section only if the court makes all of the four specified determinations.

Section 13155 provides that, upon becoming final, an order under this chapter determining that property is property passing to the petitioner is conclusive on all persons, whether or not they are in being.

Section 13156 states that the petitioner who receives the decedent’s property pursuant to an order under this chapter is personally liable for the unsecured debts of the decedent.

Section 13157 notes that the attorney’s fees for services performed in connection with the filing of a petition and obtaining a court order under this chapter are to be determined by private agreement between the attorney and the client and are not subject to approval by the court.