A California probate has its own route for valuing the house. The figure that goes into the court's inventory is set by a probate referee, not by an appraiser the family hires, unless the judge has ordered otherwise. Below: how that works, which Orange County courthouse hears probate, and when a family or its lawyer may still want a separate appraisal of a Huntington Beach home.

Ask for a probate appraisal quote · Phone 657-845-8112

Who appraises the house in a California probate?

The county's probate referee, unless the court waives one. Probate Code section 8800 sets the clock: within four months of the date letters first issue, the personal representative's Inventory and Appraisal, on Judicial Council form DE-160, has to be on file. On that form the representative puts a value on cash items such as money and bank deposits. Real estate and the other non-cash assets are listed for the referee, and Probate Code sections 8901 and 8902 require that a referee appointed for the county do that appraisal. Form DE-147, the duties statement personal representatives receive, tells them to arrange for a court-appointed referee to value the property unless the court waives the appointment.

Waiver is possible. Probate Code section 8903 allows it, and DE-160 has a line for the date of the waiver order. Because it takes an order from the court, it is a subject for your attorney; it does not happen automatically.

The upshot: an appraisal you order privately does not take the place of the referee's inventory value. It can still be useful next to it, in the ways listed below. Form DE-147 · Form DE-160

When a private appraisal earns its place

Raise each of these with your attorney before ordering anything:

Setting an asking price. If a sale needs the court's confirmation, the judge's order on form DE-265 finds that the private-sale bid reaches 90% or more of an appraised value dated within one year of the hearing. And when more than a year has gone by between the date of death and that hearing, the report of sale on form DE-260 requires a reappraisal. A private market opinion can guide the asking price; it is not the number the 90% test measures against.
Basis records for the heirs. Under Internal Revenue Code section 1014, an heir's basis generally tracks the home's fair market value at death. A privately ordered date-of-death appraisal can document that figure; what the heirs' records need is for their tax adviser to say.
One heir keeping the house. If a beneficiary wants the property and plans to pay the others, the family may want an independent value to negotiate from.
Thinking about a waiver. If your lawyer is weighing a request to waive the referee, ask what evidence of value that request would need.

If the house is being handled through a trust or some other route outside probate, the estate appraisals page is the better starting point.

The $750,000 main-home petition

For deaths on or after April 1, 2025, a shorter court procedure is available for the decedent's main home in California if its gross value at death was $750,000 or less. Rather than opening a full probate, a successor petitions the court on form DE-310 under Probate Code sections 13151 to 13154. The petition must still attach an appraisal by the county's probate referee. Whether a given Huntington Beach home qualifies depends on its value at death and the statute's other conditions, which your attorney can check. California courts self-help: simpler transfers

The Orange County courthouse for probate

Probate for all of Orange County is heard at the Superior Court's Costa Mesa Justice Complex. The court's designation list routes probate there and lists Huntington Beach under it. Your case notices will give the department and hearing dates. Superior Court of California, County of Orange: court designation list

Recorder and assessor

Filing the inventory triggers one more document: a change of ownership statement, lodged with the recorder or assessor of each county where the decedent held real property, under Revenue and Taxation Code section 480. For Orange County property, that means the Orange County Clerk-Recorder Department or the Orange County Assessor Department.

A look back to the date of death

DE-160 asks for values as of the date of death, and an appraisal for the heirs' basis is pinned to the same day. That makes the assignment retrospective. The appraiser works from sales and market conditions around that date and does not assume today's prices fit.

The house itself has to be pictured as it was then. If it has been cleared out, fixed up or remodeled since, the appraiser needs proof of its earlier state: photographs, an old listing, inspection reports, receipts. Where nothing survives, the report spells out its assumptions. Location narrows the search as well. A Huntington Harbour home with a private dock, a house a few blocks from downtown and a property beside Huntington Central Park each need sales of their own kind.

The federal estate tax return, briefly

Only some estates file one. For a U.S. citizen or resident who dies in 2026, the Form 706 instructions call for a return if the gross estate together with adjusted taxable gifts and specific exemption tops $15,000,000, or if the executor wants to pass the unused exclusion to the surviving spouse. When a return is filed, Schedule A asks how real estate was valued and wants copies of appraisals relied on. Whether any of that reaches your estate is for your attorney or tax adviser; no appraisal decides a tax outcome. IRS Instructions for Form 706

Bring these to the first conversation

Date of death and, if a case is open, the date letters issued
What your attorney wants regarding the house and the inventory
Address, type of home and how entry will work
Anything showing the home's condition at death, and any work since
Listing, offer or sale plans, plus a hearing date if one is set
The people who will read and rely on the report

Steps

Opening call. Property, effective date, purpose, report readers and deadline, followed by a written scope, fee and delivery estimate before any work.
The house and its records. Entry is arranged, and your evidence about its condition on the effective date is reviewed.
Sales around the date of death. The appraiser weighs comparable sales and conditions from around the effective date, and the report explains the reasoning.
Reading the report. Check the effective date, stated use and assumptions; send factual questions about the home to the appraiser.

Cost and schedule

Ask for a written scope, fee and delivery estimate. The date of death, the records on hand, access and any court or sale dates all affect it.

An inherited home outside probate belongs on the estate appraisals page, and basis-only questions on IRS step-up appraisals. Every service is listed at appraisal services.

Begin with the house and the date of death

Tell us the Huntington Beach address, your role in the estate and what your attorney has requested.

Ask for a probate appraisal quote · Phone 657-845-8112

Eagle Home Appraisal Huntington Beach prepared this page. California probate rules are summarized in general terms; nothing here is legal or tax advice or a value for any property.