I hear this question all the time: “How quickly can I close probate?”  Or they will say, “letters were just issued by the court… so now much longer until probate is over?”  Or, “so my dad just died can we end the probate by next month?”

The simple fact is probate is 7 months minimum from start to finish. There are occasionally things to be done to shave a few days off here or there but basically it’s 7 months. Here’s a link to the California probate timeline.

Thus the question, or should I say the answer, depends on another question… did you file for probate yet? That’s my question to you. Did YOU file probate yet?  Once it’s filed, absent unusual circumstances, we should be able to finish your probate in about 7 months.

There are times when it’s better to wait longer but generally speaking 7 months is good.  However, in cases with creditor problems, tax issues, and heir disputes then longer may be required.

So, again the question really is HAVE YOU FILED PROBATE YET? That is, have YOU started the process? From there you can look at the probate timeline and determine how much longer. However, if you haven’t filed yet then it’s going to be at least 7 more months!

I thus encourage you to get your probate started. We can always keep it open longer than 7 months but we can’t shorten it. The sooner you start the sooner you finish!

In the coming days I will answer the question how fast can probate be filed!?