When an Intestate Estate Needs a §13101 Declaration

• An intestate estate can often skip full probate if its personal property falls under California's small-estate threshold.
• The threshold is $239,700 for deaths on or after April 1, 2026, and applies to gross personal property value, not just the unclaimed-property share.
• A declaration used this way does not change the 10 per cent fee cap, because the property is still reported under §1530 in the decedent's own name.
• If an estate was already probated through the county, it falls outside the fee cap and sits in a separate State Controller file entirely.
• No deadline forces a claim either way; the property waits until an heir comes forward unless the estate has been permanently escheated.

My relative died without a will. Do I still need probate?

Not always. People who run a name through an unclaimed-property index and find money sitting under a parent’s or a sibling’s name often assume a lawyer and a county probate case are the price of admission before they can touch it. That is not correct for every estate. California allows a successor to collect a decedent’s personal property, including cash reported to the State Controller, by signing a sworn declaration under Probate Code §13100 et seq. instead of petitioning a court for full administration. The declaration only works for personal property, not real estate, and only when the estate qualifies as small enough under the statute.

Our own probate estates index currently tracks 37,166 estates that did go through a county probate case, of which 4,438 remain claimable, holding about $59,038,273. Those are a different population from the intestate estates that never reach a courthouse at all because they qualify for the affidavit route instead.

What is the dollar limit, and does it move?

For deaths occurring on or after April 1, 2026, California’s small-estate threshold under Probate Code §13100 et seq. is $239,700 in gross personal property value. The figure is adjusted periodically by statute, so an estate from an earlier date of death may fall under a different number. Confirming which threshold applies to a particular date of death is a legal question, not an arithmetic one, and is best answered by an attorney rather than guessed at from a general rule.

The threshold counts the gross value of the decedent’s personal property wherever it is held, not merely the portion that happens to show up in a state unclaimed-property index. A modest sum sitting with the Controller can still push a larger estate over the line once bank accounts, vehicles and other assets are added in.

What has to be in the declaration, and what gets attached?

The declaration must be signed under penalty of perjury, identify the decedent and the property being claimed, and state that the required waiting period has passed since death and that no proceeding for administration of the estate is pending or has been granted. A certified copy of the death certificate is required as an attachment. Real property is handled under a separate procedure entirely and is not covered by this kind of declaration.

Getting the wording and attachments right matters, because a holder, a bank, or the Controller can reject a declaration that is incomplete or incorrectly framed, which is why drafting it is work for an attorney, not for a recovery firm. What we do is the other half of the job: confirm whether a specific name actually appears against property in the Controller’s file, and once the heir’s paperwork is in order, prepare and file the claim. See what documents the state needs and claiming as an heir or executor for the mechanics on our side.

Does the state's 10 per cent fee cap apply to this kind of claim?

Usually, yes. The 10 per cent cap on recovery fees under CCP §1582(a)(2)(C) reaches property reported under §1530, which is the ordinary route by which a bank, insurer or other holder turns over a dormant account in a person’s own name. A declaration under §13101 is used precisely because no probate case was opened, which means the property an heir is claiming is still sitting on the Controller’s books under the decedent’s own name, reported the ordinary way. That keeps the fee cap in play, regardless of whether the heir proves entitlement with a small-estate declaration or with letters of administration.

This is the opposite situation from an estate that actually went through county probate. See what the law says about finder fees for the full distinction.

What if the estate was already probated?

Then the small-estate declaration is not the right tool, and the fee rules change. The State Controller publishes a separate 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. Property that reaches the Controller through that route arrives under the Probate Code rather than under §1530, and the Controller has stated there are no fee restrictions for investigators filing on behalf of the owners or heirs of county probated estates.

Our index currently holds 4,438 such estates still claimable across 38 counties. If a probate case was opened for your relative’s estate, check probate estates and the second State file before assuming the small-estate route applies.

What should I do next?

Start by checking whether property is sitting against the decedent’s name at all. That is a free step and does not require any paperwork decision first: search the index. If something turns up and no probate case was ever opened, the next question, whether the estate qualifies for a §13101 declaration and how to draft it, belongs with an attorney. Once that document exists, bring it to us. We will confirm the record, put the recovery agreement in writing with the disclosures California law requires, including the nature and value of the property and the address where you could claim it directly, and we take nothing until the Controller approves the claim and pays. See our full-service recovery for how that works end to end.

Questions People Ask

Figures on this page are from our copy of the State Controller’s published file as it stood on 21 October 2026. The State republishes the file weekly, so current totals will differ. Search is always against the latest copy.