Estate Inventory and Appraisement Requirements in California

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing filing and deadline

California combines the inventory and appraisal in one court filing. The normal clock runs from the first issuance of general letters, not the date of death or the petition date:

“An inventory and appraisal shall be combined in a single document.”

“The inventory and appraisal shall be filed within four months after letters are first issued to a general personal representative.”

The court may grant additional time that is reasonable for the case, and Cal. Prob. Code § 8800(c) permits partial filings only if all inventories and appraisals are completed within the allowed period.

Property, value, and oath

Cal. Prob. Code §§ 8802 and 8850 require all property being administered to be listed item by item at fair market value at death. The inventory must particularly identify debts and their security, the decedent's partnership interest, cash items, and—so far as ascertainable—the community, quasi-community, and separate-property portions.

The representative's verification is an oath, not merely an unsigned asset schedule:

“The personal representative shall take and subscribe an oath that the inventory contains a true statement of the property to be administered in the decedent’s estate of which the personal representative has knowledge.”

Cal. Prob. Code § 8852(b) separately requires every corepresentative to take the oath and supplies a court route if they disagree about whether property belongs in the estate.

Who appraises which property

The representative directly appraises the cash and cash-equivalent categories listed in Cal. Prob. Code § 8901. Under §§ 8900 and 8902, the representative delivers the inventory and supporting data to the court-designated probate referee, who ordinarily appraises the other property.

Two narrower alternatives matter. A court may waive referee appraisal for good cause under Cal. Prob. Code § 8903, and § 8904 permits a qualified independent expert for a unique, artistic, unusual, or special tangible item. Whoever values an item must sign and take the impartial-appraisal oath required by § 8905.

Delivery and appraisal access

The court filing does not create a duty to send a copy to every interested person. Cal. Prob. Code §§ 8803 and 1252(b) require delivery within 15 days after filing to a person who requested special notice. Delivery may be by mail or in person under § 1215; electronic delivery requires the recipient's express consent on the appropriate Judicial Council form.

Cal. Prob. Code § 8908 gives the representative or a beneficiary a separate right, on demand, to the probate referee's appraisal report or backup data, subject to legally required confidentiality.

Supplementation and consequences

After-discovered estate property starts a new clock. Cal. Prob. Code § 8801 requires a supplemental inventory and appraisal within four months after the representative learns of the property, subject to a reasonable extension.

If the representative refuses or negligently fails to file on time, § 8804 allows an interested person to petition. The court may compel filing, remove the representative, and impose personal liability for directly resulting injury, including discretionary attorney fees; an award is also a liability on any representative's bond.

What trips people up

The appraisal is not a single professional's work. Cash items assigned by § 8901 belong on the representative-appraised side; most other property goes to the probate referee unless a statutory waiver or independent-expert route applies. Each appraiser signs only for the items that person valued.

A partial inventory does not extend the outside deadline. Under § 8800(c), the remaining partial filings still must arrive within the original four months or the court-approved extension.

Common questions

Can someone object to the appraised value?

Yes. Cal. Prob. Code § 8906 allows the representative or an interested person to file a written objection any time before the final-distribution hearing. The objector bears the burden of proof, and the court may charge defense costs against an objection filed without reasonable cause or good faith.

Does a debt owed to the decedent belong in the inventory?

Yes. Cal. Prob. Code § 8850 requires the inventory to identify money owed to the decedent and details about the debtor, original sum, endorsements, and security.

Does each corepresentative have to verify the inventory?

Yes. Cal. Prob. Code § 8852(b) requires each personal representative to take and subscribe the oath. A representative may petition for a court ruling if the corepresentatives cannot agree whether an item is estate property.

Statutes and sources

• Cal. Prob. Code § 8800 — combined court filing, four-month clock, reasonable extension, and partial filings. Official California Legislative Counsel bulk code: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PROB&sectionNum=8800. (accessed 2026-08-10).
• Cal. Prob. Code §§ 8801-8804 — supplemental filing, itemized date-of-death values, special-notice delivery, and noncompliance remedies. Same official bulk source (accessed 2026-08-10).
• Cal. Prob. Code §§ 8850 and 8852 — property contents, character, debts, security, and representative oath. Same official bulk source (accessed 2026-08-10).
• Cal. Prob. Code §§ 8900-8905 — appraisal allocation, waiver, independent expert, and appraiser oath. Same official bulk source (accessed 2026-08-10).
• Cal. Prob. Code §§ 8906, 8908 — appraisal objections and backup-data access. Same official bulk source (accessed 2026-08-10).
• Cal. Prob. Code §§ 1215 and 1252 — delivery methods and the 15-day post-filing deadline for a special-notice requester. Same official bulk source (accessed 2026-08-10).