Claiming for Someone Who Died: Letters or Affidavit?

• The State Controller keeps two separate files: 14,800,558 general property records searchable by owner name, and a second Estates of Deceased Persons File listing decedents already in county probate with their case numbers.
• If a decedent's estate shows up in the probate file, the claim is made with Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration referencing that case number, not with an affidavit.
• California's small-estate affidavit threshold is $239,700 for deaths on or after 1 April 2026, and it is only available when probate has not already been opened.
• The 10 per cent fee cap in CCP §1582 covers property reported under §1530; the State Controller says there are no fee restrictions on investigators filing for heirs or executors of county probated estates.
• There is no deadline to claim in either case, except for estates the State has permanently escheated, which cannot be recovered.

You found a listing under a parent's or relative's name. Now what?

Sooner or later, someone settling an estate runs a name through the unclaimed property records and finds a match. The next question is rarely about the money itself. It is about paperwork: does this require going to probate court, or is there a shorter form for something this size? The honest answer is that it depends on facts about the estate that the property listing alone does not tell you.

Two different files sit behind the State Controller’s data, and they call for two different documents. Knowing which file your decedent’s estate falls into is most of the battle.

The two files, and why they lead to different paperwork

The State Controller’s main property file holds 14,800,558 records, indexed by the name of the account holder or property owner at the time the holder reported it. A record under a deceased person’s name in this file does not, by itself, mean probate has been opened anywhere. It may simply mean the bank or company still had the account titled to that person when it escheated.

Separately, the Controller publishes an Estates of Deceased Persons File, refreshed on the first business day of April and October, listing the decedent, the heirs on record, the county, the probate case number, and the remaining balance (State Controller, Estates of Deceased Persons File). Across our own index of that file, 37,166 estates appear, of which 4,438 are still claimable, holding about $59,038,273. If a decedent shows up here, the estate has already been through county probate, and the claim is made against that existing case.

The practical rule: check the probate file first. If your decedent is in it, you already have a case number to work from. If not, you are dealing with the general property file, and the affidavit-versus-probate question is still open.

When Letters Testamentary or Administration are the route

If the estate is already in the probate file, or if it needs to go through probate because of its size or complexity, the claim is filed using Letters Testamentary (if there was a will naming an executor) or Letters of Administration (if the court appointed an administrator). These are issued by the probate court and identify the person legally authorized to collect estate assets, including unclaimed property.

Because this route runs through the Probate Code rather than through §1530 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the 10 per cent fee cap that governs ordinary unclaimed property claims does not reach it. The State Controller states plainly that there are no fee restrictions for investigators filing for the owners or heirs of county probated estates (CCP §1582(a)(1); State Controller, Investigators). That does not mean fees are unlimited in practice, only that this particular statutory ceiling does not apply to probate-estate work the way it does to a §1530 claim.

When a small-estate affidavit is enough

If probate has not been opened and the decedent’s total estate, not just the one unclaimed property record, falls below California’s small-estate affidavit threshold, an affidavit under Probate Code §13100 et seq. may let an heir collect the property without opening a full probate case. That threshold is $239,700 for deaths on or after 1 April 2026. Deaths before that date fall under an earlier figure, and getting the cutoff right for an older death is a question worth putting to an estate attorney rather than guessing from a threshold that has already changed once.

The affidavit route is faster on paper, but it only works if no probate exists and the estate genuinely qualifies. Filing an affidavit for an estate that should have gone through probate, or for one that already has, creates a mismatch the Controller’s office will not resolve on the claimant’s behalf.

What the State will actually ask for

Regardless of which route applies, expect the claim to require certified copies of the death certificate, proof of the claimant’s relationship or appointment, and identification. Claims of $1,000 or more in cash must be notarized, and all securities claims and all safe deposit box claims must be notarized regardless of value (State Controller claim requirements). A California notary may charge at most $15 per signature for an acknowledgment or proof, and $15 for a jurat (Government Code §8211(a)-(b)), so budget for that even if the underlying claim is straightforward.

There is no deadline for filing either kind of claim. California holds unclaimed property indefinitely until the owner or heirs come forward. The one exception is an estate the State has permanently escheated, meaning it has taken title outright; no claim will be paid on that property, whichever document you have in hand.

How we help once you know which route applies

Sorting out whether an estate belongs in the probate file or needs an affidavit is a fact question about that specific estate, not a legal opinion about who is entitled to inherit; for entitlement questions, an attorney is the right person to ask. Once the route is clear, our work is locating the property, confirming it matches the decedent, and assembling the claim package the Controller’s office requires. We are a private recovery firm, not the State Controller’s Office and not affiliated with it, and we are paid only after the State approves and pays a claim.

If you are not yet sure what a relative may have left behind, start with a search across our index. If you already have a probate case number or are working through an affidavit, our heir and estate claims process walks through what each route needs.

Questions People Ask

Figures on this page are from our copy of the State Controller’s published file as it stood on 8 September 2026. The State republishes the file weekly, so current totals will differ. Search is always against the latest copy.