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- A sale cannot start until a personal representative is appointed and letters issue, Probate Code section 8400.
- The Probate Code fixes several waits: publication at least 15 days before the petition hearing, an inventory within four months of letters, a Notice of Proposed Action at least 15 days before a full-authority sale, and an appraisal less than a year old at a confirmation hearing.
- Hearing dates come from the court's calendar, and no statute sets them.
- Within one year after letters, or 18 months if a federal estate tax return is required, the estate must petition for final distribution or report on its status.
How does the case get opened?
Nothing on the sale side can begin until the court has appointed a personal representative and letters have issued. Probate Code section 8400 is explicit that the appointment takes effect only when letters issue.
- The petition. The executor named in the will, or the person asking to be appointed administrator, files a Petition for Probate, form DE-111, with the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles. The court sets the hearing date, and how soon it falls depends on the court's calendar.
- Notice. Notice of the hearing is mailed to the people entitled to it and published. Section 8121 requires the first publication at least 15 days before the hearing, and three publications with at least five days between the first and the last are sufficient. Proof of the mailing and the publication is filed with the court.
- The order and the letters. If the court grants the petition, it signs the order for probate, form DE-140, which states whether the estate may be administered with full or limited independent authority. Any bond the court requires is filed, and then letters issue on form DE-150.
What this stage waits on is mostly paperwork and the calendar. The petition has to be complete, notice has to reach everyone entitled to it, and the hearing has to go forward. A defect in any of them can move the hearing.
What must happen in the first four months after letters?
Three duties run on a four-month clock from the date letters are first issued.
- Inventory and appraisal. File an inventory and appraisal of the estate's assets with the court. The personal representative delivers the inventory to the probate referee the court designated, with the supporting data the referee needs, Probate Code section 8902.
- Change of ownership statement. When the inventory and appraisal is filed, a change of ownership statement for the building also goes to the county recorder or assessor.
- Notice to creditors. Mail a notice of administration to each known creditor within four months after appointment.
The creditor deadline itself is set by section 9100. A creditor must file a claim before the later of four months after letters first issue or 60 days after the notice of administration was mailed or delivered to that creditor. Ask the estate's attorney how the claims picture affects the timing of the sale and of distribution.
Meanwhile somebody has to run the building, which means collecting rent, making repairs, keeping the insurance in force and keeping the LAHD registration current. If the case spans a February, the Rent Registry for each RSO unit has to reach LAHD by the last day of that month. The page on tenants during a probate sale covers that side.
What does finding a buyer depend on?
No statute sets how long it takes to prepare, list and sell a building. It depends on things you can see coming:
- How complete the building's records are: leases, the rent roll, deposits and the LAHD registration
- Whether the tenants cooperate with showings. Civil Code section 1954 presumes 24 hours to be reasonable notice, and allows oral notice once tenants have been told in writing, within the previous 120 days, that the property is for sale.
- The building's condition, and what buyers find when they inspect
- Whether the price matches the market
- Which route the sale takes, since that decides who the buyers are and what they have to wait for
One clock matters here if the sale will be confirmed. Probate Code section 10309 requires the appraisal to have been made within one year before the confirmation hearing. If the appraisal from the inventory will be more than a year old by the likely hearing date, raise it with the attorney before the listing goes live.
How long does a full-authority sale wait?
At least 15 days after the notice goes out. With full authority, the accepted offer goes into a Notice of Proposed Action that states the price and the commission. Section 10586 requires the notice to be delivered to each person entitled to it at least 15 days before the date it names as the date on or after which the sale will be made. An objection counts if it is delivered or received at the address in the notice before the later of that date and the date the sale is made, section 10587.
If no objection arrives, the sale goes ahead on the purchase contract's timetable, with no confirmation hearing. If one does, the sale moves to the court route below, and the timeline starts to depend on the court's calendar. The page on full versus limited authority covers the notice in detail.
What does a court-confirmed sale wait on?
- Notice of sale. Unless an exception applies, such as a will that directs or authorizes the sale, section 10300 requires a published notice of sale in a newspaper in the county, completed before the day the notice names as the first day the sale may be made.
- The sale window. Under section 10306, the private sale cannot be made before that day, or later than one year after it.
- The petition. After the estate accepts an offer, the personal representative files the report of sale and petition for confirmation, form DE-260. Notice of the hearing goes out under section 1220 to the people it names and to the buyer, and is posted under section 1230.
- The hearing. The date comes from the court's calendar. At the hearing, other buyers may overbid under section 10311, and the court confirms the sale, to the highest qualifying bidder if overbids are made.
- Closing. Section 10308 requires confirmation before title passes, so escrow closes after the order, on the contract's timetable.
The page on court confirmation and overbidding covers the hearing itself.
What happens after the building closes?
For the tenants, Civil Code section 1950.5 has the seller either transfer each remaining deposit to the buyer and notify the tenant, or return it to the tenant with an accounting. LAHD gives the new owner 45 days from the close of escrow or the recording to register the units.
For the estate, section 12200 sets the outer deadline. Within one year after letters issue, or 18 months if a federal estate tax return is required, the personal representative must either petition for final distribution or file a report on the status of the administration. The sale proceeds stay with the estate until they are distributed.
| Step | What it waits on | Period set by law |
|---|---|---|
| Letters | Petition hearing, signed order, any bond | First publication at least 15 days before the hearing, section 8121 |
| Inventory and appraisal | The referee's appraisal and the estate's records | Within four months after letters |
| Creditor claims | Notice to known creditors | Later of four months after letters or 60 days after notice, section 9100 |
| Full-authority sale | Delivery of the Notice of Proposed Action | At least 15 days before the date in the notice, section 10586 |
| Confirmed sale, notice of sale | Newspaper publication | Complete before the day in the notice, section 10300, and the sale within a year after it, section 10306 |
| Confirmation hearing | The court's calendar and notice under section 1220 | Appraisal made within one year before the hearing, section 10309 |
| New owner's LAHD registration | Close of escrow or recording | 45 days, per LAHD's RSO registration bulletin |
| Closing the estate | Claims, accounts and taxes | Petition or status report within one year or 18 months, section 12200 |
The estate's attorney calendars these dates and prepares every filing. Shaya is a real estate agent, not an attorney, and his part of the timeline is the building. He can have it ready to list when the authority is in place, and keep buyers ready through the notice period or the hearing.