Solano County Probate Estates Held by the State Controller

• Our index shows 104,454 claimable Solano County probate estates holding $85,127,911 in total.
• 935 of those estates are worth $10,000 or more.
• Probate estates fall under the Probate Code, and the Controller states there are no fee restrictions for investigators filing on county probated estates, unlike the 10 per cent cap that applies to property reported under CCP §1530.
• There is no deadline to claim a Solano County estate from the State unless it has been permanently escheated.
• An agreement with a recovery firm is invalid if it requires payment before the Controller approves and pays the claim.

What happens to a Solano County probate estate that goes unclaimed?

When a Solano County resident dies and leaves an estate that passes through probate, the county court oversees distribution to heirs or beneficiaries named in a will. If funds remain after that process concludes, because an heir cannot be located, declines to come forward, or the balance was simply never collected, the county remits that balance to the State Controller rather than holding it indefinitely at the local level.

The Controller maintains a separate record of these estates, distinct from the general unclaimed property file built from bank, insurance and utility reports. That record lists the decedent, the heirs on record, the county of probate, the case number and the balance remaining. (State Controller, Estates of Deceased Persons File)

How much unclaimed money is tied to Solano County estates right now?

Our index currently lists 104,454 claimable probate estates that originated in Solano County. Together they hold $85,127,911. Most of these balances are modest, but 935 of the estates are worth $10,000 or more, which is a meaningful sum to leave unclaimed.

These figures are drawn from our own index of the State Controller’s published files and reflect estates that are still open to a claim, not ones that have been permanently escheated. An estate that has been permanently escheated has had title taken by the State, and no claim will be paid on it.

Does the 10 per cent fee cap apply to a probate estate claim?

Not in the way many people assume. California law caps a recovery firm’s fee at 10 per cent of the property recovered, but that cap applies only to property reported under Code of Civil Procedure §1530, the general unclaimed property statute covering things like dormant bank accounts and uncashed checks. (Code of Civil Procedure §1582)

Estates that reach the State through county probate arrive under the Probate Code instead, and the State Controller has stated there are no fee restrictions for investigators filing for the owners or heirs of county probated estates. That means the 10 per cent figure is not a statutory ceiling for this category. It is simply our own standard rate: we charge 10 per cent of what is recovered, and nothing if nothing is recovered, regardless of whether the statutory cap technically applies.

Whatever the category, an agreement cannot require payment up front. A fee can only be collected after the Controller has approved the claim and paid the owner.

How can I find out if my relative's estate is one of these?

The fastest way is to search by the decedent’s name. Our free property search checks our index of probate estate and property records together, so you do not need to guess which file a relative’s balance would fall under. For more detail on how the probate side of the data works and how it differs from the general property file, see our page on probate estates and the second State file.

Keep in mind that a shared surname is not proof of a match. Verifying that a listed heir is actually the person you believe them to be, and that you are legally entitled to step in as executor or heir, is a question for the probate record itself or an attorney, not something a search tool can settle on its own.

What do I need to actually file a claim as an heir or executor?

The Controller requires documentation establishing your relationship to the decedent and your right to collect on the estate’s behalf, which commonly includes a death certificate, proof of your identity, and probate or heirship documentation depending on how the estate was handled. Claims of $1,000 or more in cash must be notarized, and a notary in California may charge at most $15 per signature for the acknowledgment. (Government Code §8211)

Our page on what documents the State needs walks through this in more detail, and our page on claiming as an heir or executor covers the process specific to estate claims, which differs somewhat from claiming property held in your own name.

What should I do next?

If a relative died in Solano County and you are not certain whether anything was left unclaimed, start with a search by name. If a match turns up, you can file the claim yourself, or you can have us handle the research, documentation and filing through our full-service recovery, for which we charge 10 per cent of what is recovered and nothing unless money is paid out. There is no deadline pressing you to act, but there is also no cost to finding out what is there.

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.