Bank accounts after a death in California

Money in an account with a surviving joint owner or a payable-on-death (POD) beneficiary belongs to that person and does not need the small estate affidavit. For an account in the person's name alone, the people who inherit can use the small estate affidavit after 40 days if the estate is under the limit.

Checked against official sources: October 30, 2026.

Bank accounts after a death in California

Money in an account with a surviving joint owner or a payable-on-death (POD) beneficiary belongs to that person and does not need the small estate affidavit. For an account in the person's name alone, the people who inherit can use the small estate affidavit after 40 days if the estate is under the limit. The bank may ask you to use its own affidavit form.

Law: Cal. Prob. Code secs. 5302, 13050(a)(2), 13100-13106

Source: Official page

Do bank accounts count toward the small estate limit?

Kind of propertyHow it is treatedDetails
Bank accounts in the person's name alone
Counts

Bank accounts in the person's name alone, with no payable-on-death beneficiary, count.

Law: Prob. Code 13100

Joint or payable-on-death (POD) bank accounts
Left out

Joint, payable-on-death and trust bank accounts are left out, to the extent the money belongs to a surviving co-owner or beneficiary.

Law: Prob. Code 13050(a)(2)

What the bank or holder must do

If the affidavit meets the legal requirements, the holder must pay or transfer the property, and a transfer agent must re-register securities. The holder may rely on the affidavit and is then released from liability. If the holder refuses within a reasonable time, you may sue to get the property, and the court must award reasonable attorney's fees if it finds the refusal was unreasonable. If you cannot present the person's evidence of ownership, the holder may ask for a bond or an indemnity agreement.

Law: Probate Code 13105

FDIC insurance after a death

After a deposit owner dies, FDIC insurance on the account stays the same for six months, unless the account is restructured. After six months, coverage is based on who actually owns the money.

Law: 12 CFR 330.3(j)

Transfer-on-death (TOD) and payable-on-death (POD) in California

Bank account (POD)

Yes

Law: Cal. Prob. Code sec. 5302

Source: Official page

Death certificates in California

To get a certified copy you must sign a sworn statement under penalty of perjury and have it notarized when ordering by mail from CDPH; an 'informational' copy does not need it. CDPH has a recorded fee line: (916) 445-2684.

Where to get it
California Department of Public Health (CDPH) Vital Records, or the county recorder in the county where the death happened
Official page
Official page

Surviving spouse in California

Property that passes to a surviving spouse or registered domestic partner does not need probate and is not counted toward the small estate limit. The spouse or partner can ask the court to confirm it with a Spousal or Domestic Partner Property Petition, and can collect up to $20,875 of the person's unpaid wages from employers with an affidavit (deaths on or after April 1, 2025).

Source: form DE-221

Affidavit for Collection of Personal Property (small estate affidavit)

A signed statement you give to a bank, company or person holding the property, so they pay or transfer it to you. It is not filed with the court.

Limit

Up to $208,850 (deaths on or after April 1, 2025) Counted at full value, without subtracting debts.

Date of deathLimit
On or after April 1, 2025
$208,850
April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2025
$184,500
On or before March 31, 2022
$166,250

For a death on or after April 1, 2025, the total cannot be more than $208,850. The limit was $184,500 for deaths from April 1, 2022, to March 31, 2025, and $166,250 before April 1, 2022. The limit is adjusted every three years; the next adjustment is set for April 1, 2028.

What counts

The gross value of all the person's real and personal property in California, not counting the property listed in Probate Code 13050 (see the counting rules) or a home included in a primary residence petition. Debts are not subtracted.

Waiting period

At least 40 days must have passed since the death.

Who can use it

The 'successor': the person or people who inherit the item under the will, or under state inheritance law if there is no will. A guardian or conservator, a trustee of a trust that inherits, a custodian for a minor named in the will, or an agent under a durable power of attorney may act for the person who inherits. When more than one person inherits the item, they sign the affidavit together.

Court or where to file

Not filed with a court. You give it to the holder of the property.

Notary

The law does not require notarization, but many banks and companies ask for it. The holder must see reasonable proof of identity, such as a current driver's license or passport, or a notary's certificate of acknowledgment.

Papers to attach
  • Certified copy of the death certificate
  • Form DE-300 (list of current dollar limits), if the death was on or after April 1, 2022
  • Proof the person owned the property, such as the bank statement, passbook or stock certificate, if available
  • If the person owned any real property in California: an inventory and appraisal (forms DE-160 and DE-161) made by a probate referee
  • If a probate case exists: the personal representative's written consent and letters
Steps
  1. Wait until at least 40 days after the death.
  2. Ask the bank or company if it has its own affidavit form; many do.
  3. Fill in the affidavit with the required statements and a description of the property.
  4. Every person who inherits the item signs under penalty of perjury.
  5. Give the affidavit, the death certificate, form DE-300 and proof of ownership to the holder.
Fee

There is no court filing fee because the affidavit is not filed with the court. If the person owned real property in California, the probate referee who appraises it is paid one-tenth of one percent of the value appraised, plus expenses.

Debts and responsibility

If you receive property this way, you are personally responsible for the person's unpaid unsecured debts (such as funeral costs, last-illness costs and wage claims), up to the value of what you received minus liens. You also must give the property, or its value, to anyone with a better legal right to it, and three times the value if you got it by fraud. These claims are generally barred three years after you present the affidavit, or three years after fraud is discovered, whichever is later.

What the bank or holder must do

If the affidavit meets the legal requirements, the holder must pay or transfer the property, and a transfer agent must re-register securities. The holder may rely on the affidavit and is then released from liability. If the holder refuses within a reasonable time, you may sue to get the property, and the court must award reasonable attorney's fees if it finds the refusal was unreasonable. If you cannot present the person's evidence of ownership, the holder may ask for a bond or an indemnity agreement.

Law: Cal. Prob. Code secs. 13050, 13100-13116, 890

Source: Official page

Good to know in California

  • California adjusts its small estate dollar limits every three years for inflation. The current amounts apply to deaths on or after April 1, 2025, and the next adjustment is set for April 1, 2028. Form DE-300 must be attached for deaths on or after April 1, 2022.
  • Since January 1, 2025, the court petition for real property without probate covers only the person's primary residence, with a $750,000 limit for deaths from April 1, 2025.
  • A surviving spouse and minor children can ask the court in a probate case to set aside an estate worth up to $107,900 net for deaths on or after April 1, 2025.

Changes in 2024–2026

Assembly Bill 2016, effective January 1, 2025: the Petition to Determine Succession now covers only the decedent's primary residence, with a $750,000 limit for deaths from April 1, 2025, through March 31, 2028; property in such a petition is not counted toward the affidavit limit. April 1, 2025: Judicial Council inflation adjustment (affidavit $208,850; real property affidavit $69,625; spouse wages and excluded wages $20,875; set-aside $107,900), form DE-300 revised April 28, 2025. Form DE-305 revised January 1, 2026. Senate Bill 1288 amends Probate Code 5507: when a brokerage or other registering entity learns that all owners of a transfer-on-death security have died, it must try to notify each beneficiary within 60 days and pay a beneficiary's share within 60 days after receiving all required documents; it applies to charity beneficiaries from January 1, 2027, and to other beneficiaries for deaths on or after January 1, 2028.

Law: Stats. 2024, ch. 331; Stats. 2026, ch. 691

Letters to a bank

Use the free tools below to ask a bank for the balance on the date of death or to present a signed small estate affidavit.

Related pages

Free help in California

A court self-help center or a legal aid office can check whether the estate qualifies, free of charge or at low cost.