San Bernardino County Probate Estates Still Unclaimed

• San Bernardino County accounts for 447,503 claimable probate estates in our index, holding $329,772,744 in total.
• 3,327 of those estates are worth $10,000 or more.
• Probate estates reach the State Controller through the Probate Code, not through §1530, so the 10 per cent recovery-fee cap that applies to other unclaimed property does not apply to them.
• California sets no deadline for claiming a relative's probate estate; only estates the State has permanently escheated are closed to claims.
• A recovery agreement must be in writing, disclose the property's value and location, and cannot require payment before the Controller pays the claim.

How does a San Bernardino County estate end up with the State?

When someone dies in San Bernardino County and their estate goes through probate, the court oversees payment of debts and distribution to heirs. If money remains after that process and no heir can be located, or an heir does not come forward, the county remits the balance to the State Controller under the Probate Code. The Controller then lists it in the Estates of Deceased Persons File, alongside the decedent’s name, the heirs on record, the county, the probate case number and the remaining balance.

This is a different pathway from the more familiar unclaimed property reported under Code of Civil Procedure §1530, which covers things like dormant bank accounts or uncashed checks from businesses. Probate money follows the county court’s own timeline and paperwork, which is why it often sits separately from the general property file.

How much San Bernardino County probate money is still unclaimed?

Our index currently shows 447,503 claimable probate estates tied to San Bernardino County, holding $329,772,744 in aggregate. Of those, 3,327 estates are individually worth $10,000 or more. Across our entire index, covering every California county, we track 37,166 probate estates in total, of which 4,438 remain claimable. San Bernardino County’s numbers make up a substantial share of that statewide picture.

These figures come from the State Controller’s published estates file and our own indexing of it, not from an estimate. A specific dollar figure attached to a specific case does not tell you what any one family will recover; it only tells you the balance the State currently shows against that case number.

Is there a deadline to claim a relative's estate?

No. California places no deadline on claiming unclaimed property, including probate balances held by the Controller. The State holds the money indefinitely until an owner or heir comes forward with a valid claim. The one exception is an estate that has been permanently escheated, meaning the State has taken title outright; once that has happened, no claim will be paid on that estate.

This means a probate balance from years, even decades, ago can generally still be claimed. The relevant question is not how much time has passed, but whether the specific estate has reached permanent escheatment, which is something we check when we search a case.

What will it cost to recover money from a probated estate?

The 10 per cent fee cap set out in Code of Civil Procedure §1582(a)(2)(C) applies only to property reported under §1530. Estates that reach the State through county probate are governed by the Probate Code instead, and the State Controller has stated there are no fee restrictions for investigators filing on behalf of the owners or heirs of county probated estates. That means the cap does not govern probate-estate recoveries the way it does an ordinary unclaimed bank account.

Whatever the legal ceiling, no fee may ever be collected before the Controller approves the claim and pays the owner; an agreement that tries to charge upfront is invalid. Our standard fee is a percentage of what is actually recovered, and we charge nothing if nothing is recovered. Any agreement we send you will disclose the estate’s value, the fact that the Controller holds it, and the address where the property could be claimed directly, as the law requires before you sign.

What do I need to prove I'm an heir or executor?

Claims of $1,000 or more in cash must be notarized, and all securities or safe deposit box claims must be notarized regardless of value. A California notary can charge at most $15 per signature for an acknowledgment and $15 for a jurat. Beyond notarization, an heir or executor typically needs to show the family relationship to the decedent and, where probate has closed, documentation from the court file identifying who is entitled to the remaining balance.

We are not able to tell you who is legally entitled to inherit; that is a question for a probate attorney, particularly where multiple heirs, a will contest, or an estate near the small-estate affidavit threshold is involved. What we can do is locate the case, confirm what the State’s file shows, and assemble the documents the Controller requires.

How do I check whether my relative's estate is on the list?

Start with a search using the decedent’s name. Our index draws on the same Estates of Deceased Persons File the Controller publishes, refreshed on the first business day of April and October, so a search will tell you whether a San Bernardino County case matching that name currently shows a claimable balance.

If a match turns up, the next step is deciding whether to pursue the claim yourself or have us handle the search, documentation and filing. We are a private recovery firm, not the State Controller’s office, and we are not affiliated with or endorsed by it. If you would rather work directly with a case once you have found it, our guide to claiming as an heir or executor walks through what the Controller’s process itself requires.

Questions People Ask

Figures on this page are from our copy of the State Controller’s published file as it stood on 9 September 2026. The State republishes the file weekly, so current totals will differ. Search is always against the latest copy.