Sonoma County Probate Estates Held by the State Controller

• Sonoma County has 115,179 claimable probate estates on file with the State Controller, totaling $90,491,944.
• 1,012 of those estates are worth $10,000 or more.
• There is no deadline to claim a probate estate from the State; it is held indefinitely unless permanently escheated.
• The 10 per cent fee cap under CCP §1582 applies to property reported under §1530, not to county probated estates, so the Controller states there is no fee restriction on investigators filing for heirs of probated estates.
• An heir or the estate's representative can search our index of these records and, if something is found, have us file the claim on a contingency basis.

What is a Sonoma County probate estate held by the State?

When a person dies and their estate goes through probate in Sonoma County Superior Court, the court-appointed representative is required to distribute the assets to heirs or beneficiaries. If funds remain unclaimed, unlocated heirs cannot be found, or a share is left unresolved at the close of probate, the county remits the balance to the California State Controller rather than holding it indefinitely at the local level. That balance then appears in the Controller’s separate Estates of Deceased Persons File, which lists the decedent, the heirs on record, the county of origin, the probate case number, and what remains.

This is a distinct track from the more familiar unclaimed property reported by banks, insurers and employers under §1530. Probate-estate money has already been through a court process; what is missing is simply the final step of an heir or representative coming forward to claim it from the Controller.

How many Sonoma County estates are still unclaimed, and how much is involved?

Our index currently shows 115,179 claimable probate estates traced to Sonoma County, holding a combined $90,491,944. Of those, 1,012 estates are valued at $10,000 or more, which is the range where the paperwork and the stakes both tend to be larger. The remaining estates run from modest refunds to more substantial balances; the State Controller’s Estates of Deceased Persons File is refreshed on the first business day of April and October, so the exact figures for any one case shift slightly as new estates are added and older ones are claimed.

These numbers belong to Sonoma County specifically. Across the State as a whole, our index covers 37,166 probate estates, of which 4,438 remain claimable, holding about $59,038,273. The scale of Sonoma County’s figures within that index is one reason we built a dedicated county search rather than leaving it to a single statewide list.

Is there a deadline to claim a deceased relative's estate from the State?

No. California places no time limit on claiming property held by the State Controller, including probate-estate balances. The one exception is an estate that has been permanently escheated, meaning the State has taken final title; in that narrow situation no claim will be paid. Short of that, a Sonoma County probate balance from a death decades ago is just as claimable today as one from last year (State Controller, Unclaimed Property).

Who can file, and what does it cost?

Generally the person entitled to file is an heir, a beneficiary named in the probate proceeding, or the estate’s executor or administrator. Whether a particular relative is legally entitled to a share of a given estate is a question of inheritance law, and we do not opine on it; that determination belongs to an attorney or to the probate court record itself.

On fees: the 10 per cent cap in Code of Civil Procedure §1582 applies to property reported under §1530, the category that covers bank accounts, uncashed checks and similar holder-reported funds. Estates that reach the Controller through county probate arrive under the Probate Code instead, and the Controller’s own guidance states there are no fee restrictions for investigators filing on behalf of the owners or heirs of county probated estates. Our standard arrangement is still a percentage of what is actually recovered, and we are never paid in advance; under California law, no fee can be collected before the Controller has approved the claim and paid the money out.

What does filing a probate-estate claim actually involve?

The Controller requires documentation establishing the claimant’s identity and their relationship to the decedent or the estate, which commonly means a certified death certificate, proof of heirship or letters of administration, and government-issued identification. Claims of $1,000 or more in cash must be notarized, and notary fees are capped by statute at $15 per signature. Where multiple heirs exist, each may need to file or sign off, which is often the slowest part of the process rather than the State’s review itself.

Because probate files can span decades, the paper trail is sometimes thin, especially where an heir has moved out of state or a family branch has lost contact. This is the part of the work we take on: locating the right record, assembling the supporting documents, and submitting a complete claim package rather than leaving it to be found piecemeal.

What to do next

If you had a relative who died in Sonoma County, the first step is simply to search the property and estate records by name. You can do that yourself, and finding a record costs nothing. If a Sonoma County estate turns up, or if you are unsure whether you qualify to file as an heir or executor, our full-service recovery handles the documentation, notarization requirements and submission, and we are paid only out of what is recovered. See claiming as an heir or executor for what the Controller will ask for, or start with a search of the records directly.

Questions People Ask

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