Los Angeles County Probate Records

Los Angeles County probate records are documentary materials that trace estate settlement actions in the county's probate court. "Probate" is the court-supervised process for the orderly distribution or transfer of a deceased person's possessions ("estate") to all entitled entities, such as the closest living relatives (heirs), creditors, devisees, and beneficiaries.

Probate records encompass letters of administration, wills, estate inventories, petitions, dockets, accounts, appraisement bills, bonds, judicial decrees, and any other document produced, compiled, or filed in relation to a probate proceeding. These records, like Los Angeles county court records, are preserved by courts in various formats (paper, microfilm, digital image) and are essential for genealogy research, historical research, will or inheritance dispute resolution, and title-searching property.

In Los Angeles County, the probate process is generally required if a person died without a valid trust, died as a California resident, and owned real property or other assets valued above a fixed amount.

(At the time of publishing, the Los Angeles probate process could be initiated for decedents who died before April 1, 2022, with estates exceeding $166,250, and decedents who died on or after April 1, 2022, with estates worth more than $184,500. These thresholds change every few years, with the latest limits uploaded on Form DE-300.)

Are Probate Records Public?

Yes. Probate records in Los Angeles County are "court records," which, under rules 2.400(a) and 2.550(c) of the California Rules of Court, are widely accessible to the public. In other words, any member of the public can read or duplicate a probate record created or maintained in Los Angeles County, excluding records deemed exempt or confidential by court rule, federal/state law, or court order.

For example, the following records in a probate court file cannot be reviewed by entities other than the parties of a case, persons with a judicial order, or those having a statutory right of access because of a legal procedure:

• Investigative reports regarding proposed conservatorships or guardianships
• Psychological evaluations
• Capacity declarations
• Mediation reports
• Fee waiver applications
• Financial statements

Other record exemptions are available in the California Trial Court Records Manual, specifically Appendix 1 and Section 10.3.

What is Probate Court in Los Angeles County?

In Los Angeles County, the Superior Court maintains original jurisdiction over probate actions that fall within its "authority". The court maintains a specialized Probate Division that handles estate administration cases (which involve will execution and asset distribution), guardianships of minors, and conservatorships for adults who cannot manage their own affairs or financial resources. The court, however, does not hear Lanterman-Petris-Short (LPS) conservatorships, which the Mental Health Division adjudicates.

The California Probate Code and Local Probate Court Rules govern Los Angeles County Probate Division proceedings. Below are the court's physical locations:

Stanley Mosk Courthouse
111 North Hill Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Phone: (213) 830-0800

Michael Antonovich Antelope Valley Courthouse
42011 4th Street West
Lancaster, CA 93534
Phone: (661) 483-5500

Probate Court Case Lookup

The Los Angeles County Superior Court provides different methods to examine and retrieve probate court case information. Individuals can:

• Visit a probate courthouse during normal office hours for record inspection or copying.
• Mail a completed Copy Request Form or request letter and enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope plus adequate postage to return copies. Below is the mailing address:

Los Angeles Superior Court
ATTN: Certification Unit, Room 112
111 North Hill Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012

For mail-in and in-person requests, the Probate Call Center can be reached at (213) 830-0850 to confirm record availability or schedule an appointment.

• Check the court's Probate Case Access website for web tools that assist in searching for probate cases and downloading case documents.

A valid case number or a case party's name is the standard criterion for looking up probate records in Los Angeles County. Fees may apply for document downloads and duplication requests.

How to Find Probate Records Online Free

The Los Angeles County Probate Division's Case Access website features several online resources for viewing and downloading local probate records. While initial searches are free, users are charged fees per California Rule of Court 2.506 to view search results or download case documents. As a result, the best way to view a probate record for free in Los Angeles is to visit the courthouse when it is open.

Individuals can also seek a probate case search from external sources that provide such services. A popular example is a third-party aggregator website, which can be accessed by any interested party and may provide a vast array of public records from courts and other government departments. Members of society also have public library databases and collections as places to find probate records.

As a rule, searching for or inspecting a probate record, whether through official or external providers, is typically free. However, if a search is extensive, will consume employee time or labor, or will require retrieving a record from an archive, the inquirer may be charged accordingly. Furthermore, requests involving the certification, printing, mailing, or exemplification of a probate record attract predetermined charges.

How Long Does Probate Take in California?

Probate cases in California typically take 9 to 18 months or longer to be finalized. The timeline until a probate case is closed (i.e., a decedent's estate dispersed to heirs and beneficiaries) is frequently affected by the following factors:

• The size and complexity of the estate
• The determination of entitled individuals to achieve the final distribution of the estate
• The presence of any will contests
• The availability of the court

Are Wills Public Record?

Yes. Wills that have gone through the probate process in Los Angeles County can be read or seen by anyone, as they are considered part of the public record (to the extent that the law permits).

However, wills and codicils filed or lodged with the Los Angeles County Superior Court for safekeeping are not public documents. Under Cal. Prob. Code § 8200, safekeeping wills are only accessible with a judicial order or a certified copy of the testator's death certificate.

How to Find Out If Someone Has a Will

Wills are confidential documents throughout the lifetime of a testator (the person who creates a will). For that reason, determining if someone has a will because of a personal interest or legal reason may not be possible until the testator dies. Usually, the only way to access a living person's will is if the individual permits it.

If the testator is deceased, a query for a copy of the will can be made to the probate court in the county where they lived, died, or have property. However, testators are not required to deposit their wills with the court. As such, if no will is found with the probate court, one may contact the decedent's estate planning attorney or executor (if known) or search the deceased's storage places (home, office, computer, external hard drive, safety deposit box, etc.) to track down the document.

Los Angeles County Family Court Case Search

A family court case search in Los Angeles County can be performed on the Superior Court's Family Law Case Access site, at a family law courthouse, or via a mail inquiry to the court. Either way, the record seeker will need to possess some information to facilitate record retrieval—usually a litigant's name or a case number. They will also need to pay assessed fees to receive document copies.

Notably, some family law records are accessible only to involved or authorized entities due to the sensitive nature of the related proceedings. Examples include child custody evaluation reports, adoption records, Uniform Parentage Act documents, etc. The California Trial Court Records Manual lists various confidential family court records.

More information about family court case searches in Los Angeles County is available on the Family Law Records page.