Advance Planning, A Law Corporation handles uncontested probate throughout California.

Because California probate is managed through court filings and attorney appearances, an estate can be settled from anywhere — another county, another state, or another country — usually without the family needing to travel. The guides below cover how probate works in California's largest counties, alongside resources for families settling a California estate from out of state or abroad. Wherever the case is filed, we also check the faster exits first — including the Petition to Determine Succession to Real Property, which under AB 2016 can transfer a primary residence valued at $750,000 or less without full probate (deaths on or after April 1, 2025). On our home turf in the East Bay, see our local pages: Dublin probate attorney, Berkeley probate attorney, Livermore probate attorney, and Fremont probate attorney. Around the Bay, see our county pages: Santa Clara County probate attorney, San Mateo County probate attorney, and San Francisco probate attorney.

Related guides: probate when no one in the family lives in California, handling a probate from New York or from Texas, ancillary probate in California, and what to do when an executor can't get a bond. Professional fiduciaries: see our probate counsel page for CLPF practices.