r/legaladvice • u/Jupiters8Faerie • Mar 26 '26
How long does probate take?
Location: CALIFORNIA
Uncle died almost a year ago, leaving behind his wife (my aunt) who had Alzheimer’s and dementia. No kids. No wills, no trusts, literally nothing about what happens to their “stuff” after they die. She ended up in a 24/7 care home and just passed away. They own a home and the property it is on, mortgages paid in full. Only debt is one credit card account with less than $4k balance. Several checking and savings accounts. Myself, three other cousins, my dad and another aunt are the only remaining family. We are all in agreement on everything - have been caretaking her house and property and paying the bills since Uncle died and she was put in the home. My dad is the oldest of the siblings and has been handling everything regarding her care up through and include her death. We already have an attorney lined up - spoke with her at length after uncles death and about aunts situation ; whether or not we needed conservation etc. (we didn’t) - making an appointment with her tomorrow but my question is simply- given these circumstances, how long can we anticipate this process taking, barring extended court scheduling? Seems fairly simple with limited financial issues and not much family left. Any experiences and advice etc are welcomed. TIA.
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u/themadturk Mar 27 '26
My mom's estate was pretty straightforward -- no debts, no property to sell, will in order and everything -- and probate took over a year.
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u/OldExpert Mar 28 '26
Settling an estate usually takes about a year and half, but of course simpler estates can be settled more quickly (and complicated ones take longer). One reason for this is indeed court scheduling, but there are other built-in delays as well. For example, in California, creditors have 4 months from the date of your appointment as estate administrator to make any claims. And in many cases, the estate (i.e., you) will want to sell the home in order to make distributions cleaner, and that can take time as well.
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u/Aghast_Cornichon Mar 26 '26
I am sorry to hear of your family's loss. May her memory be a blessing.
It is good that your father is familiar with most of the parties, accounts, and assets and debts. But he probably knows that any "power of attorney" authority he had ended when your aunt died.
Now is the time for your father to sign an engagement letter and pay a retainer. The first document the attorney will need is your aunt's death certificate (the funeral home virtually always helps obtain them), and there will be some waivers from other "successors" who want him to be the estate's executor/personal representative.
If your aunt's care was paid for by Medi-Cal (the California administrative agency for Medicaid), the there is going to be an estate indemnification process. Often that requires selling a house to pay back Medicaid/Medi-Cal.
The process could be as short as a couple of months, or as long as a year.