AB 2016 Explained: California’s New $750,000 Probate Shortcut for Your Home (and Why a Living Trust Still Wins)

What AB 2016 Actually Changed

For years, California families faced a hard reality. If a home was titled in an individual’s name at death, it usually had to pass through probate, the court supervised process for validating a will and transferring assets. In a county like Orange, where home values are high, even a modest house pushed an estate well past the old small estate limits, which meant a full probate case that could take a year or longer and cost the family thousands of dollars in statutory fees.

Assembly Bill 2016 changed one piece of that picture. Effective for deaths on or after April 1, 2025, a decedent’s primary residence valued up to $750,000 may now be transferred using a simplified petition rather than a full probate administration. The tool is called a Petition to Determine Succession to Real Property, and the idea is to give families with a single modest home a faster path than traditional probate.

It is worth being precise about the limit. The $750,000 figure applies to the value of the primary residence as of the date of death. If the home is worth more, even by a little, the shortcut is generally unavailable and the estate may need to proceed through the standard process. Given how much Orange County home values have risen over the last decade, this ceiling excludes a large share of local homeowners from the start. A family in Newport Beach or Villa Park may find that their home passed the limit years ago, while a family with a smaller condominium in Santa Ana or a modest single-story home in La Habra may still qualify.

The Legislature designed AB 2016 as a middle ground between the Small Estate Affidavit, which cannot be used for real property, and full probate, which is slow and expensive. Whether it succeeds at that goal depends heavily on the individual family, the value of the home, and how cleanly the heirs can agree.

How the Petition to Determine Succession to Real Property Works

The streamlined path is faster than full probate, but it is not automatic and it is not paperwork you simply file and forget. In broad terms, the process often involves the following steps:

1. A waiting period after death before the petition can be filed, which gives creditors and other interested parties time to come forward.
2. Preparation of a petition that identifies the property, its date of death value, and the people entitled to inherit it.
3. A court hearing at which a judge reviews the petition and, if everything is in order, issues an order confirming who receives the property.

Because a judge still reviews and signs off, this is a court process, just a lighter one. Families sometimes assume the word shortcut means no court at all. That is not the case here.

What the Shortcut Does Not Do

The AB 2016 petition is a tool for transferring one asset, a home, after death. It does not do several things that families often assume estate planning should cover:

• It does not plan for incapacity. If you are alive but unable to manage your affairs, this petition offers nothing. A durable power of attorney and a healthcare directive handle that.
• It does not cover the rest of your estate. Bank accounts, investment accounts, and personal property are not addressed by a residence petition.
• It does not provide privacy. Like other court filings, the petition becomes part of the public record.
• It does not give you control over timing or conditions. A trust can stagger distributions or protect a beneficiary who is not ready to manage a large sum. A one-time transfer cannot.

How AB 2016 Compares to Full California Probate

To understand why families care about any probate alternative, it helps to remember what full probate involves. California sets attorney and executor fees by statute, based on the gross value of the estate, and both the attorney and the executor may claim the same fee. On a home worth $1 million, the combined statutory fees can reach roughly $46,000 or more, and that is before any extraordinary fees for complications. Those fees come out of the estate before the family receives anything.

Full probate also takes time. In many California counties, including Los Angeles and neighboring courts, a clean case often runs well over a year, and a contested case or a case with real property to sell can run far longer. During that time the family may be unable to sell or refinance the home freely.

AB 2016 is meant to compress that timeline for qualifying homes. The petition is lighter, the fee exposure is generally lower, and the final hearing can come sooner than a full administration would allow. For the right family, those savings are real. The point is not that the shortcut is bad; rather, the point is that it fits a narrow set of facts.

Who Should Consider the Shortcut, and Who Should Not

As a general guide, the AB 2016 petition may be worth considering when the estate’s main asset is a single primary residence at or below the value limit, the heirs agree on how the property should pass, there is no incapacity planning gap to address, and the family is comfortable with a public court filing. Even then, it is often wise to have an attorney anticipate the title questions before they surface.

The shortcut is usually a poor fit when the home exceeds the limit, when there are significant other assets that would still need probate, when the family wants privacy, when a beneficiary is a minor or is not ready to manage an inheritance, or when incapacity planning matters, which it does for nearly everyone. In those situations a living trust does more, and it does it without a courtroom.

Why a Living Trust Still Wins for Most Families

A properly funded revocable living trust remains the most dependable way to keep a California home, and the rest of an estate, out of probate entirely. When the home is titled in the name of the trust, there is no petition to file, no public hearing to attend, and no $750,000 ceiling to worry about. The successor trustee can act without going to court.

A trust also does the things AB 2016 cannot. It plans for incapacity, it covers every asset you place into it, it keeps your affairs private, and it lets you decide how and when your beneficiaries receive what you leave them. For a family in Anaheim, Fullerton, or Yorba Linda with a home that may already exceed the new limit, the trust is often the difference between a clean transfer and a court case.

None of this means AB 2016 is useless. For a narrow set of families, a single modest home, a simple set of heirs who agree, and no need for incapacity planning, the new petition may be a reasonable fit. The key is knowing which situation you are in before you rely on it.

About the Author

Goodman Estate Law is an Anaheim based estate planning firm serving families throughout Orange County, including Anaheim, Brea, Fullerton, Orange, Placentia, Santa Ana, Tustin, Villa Park, and Yorba Linda. Attorney Brett Goodman focuses his practice on wills, trusts, probate, and trust administration. His approach is straightforward and family first, with no legal jargon and no pressure.

Sources

• The Estate Lawyers, APC – California Trust and Estate Law in 2026 (AB 2016 Petition to Determine Succession; $750,000 limit).
• Feldman Law Group – Estate Planning Updates for 2026 (title company hesitation on AB 2016 transfers).
• Clark & Allison – New Federal and California Estate Planning Laws for 2026 (AB 2016 vs. living trust).
• DRS Law – Legislative Watch: California 2026 (residential succession option under $750,000; heir agreement).

Goodman Estate Law

Brett J. Goodman is the founder and lead attorney at Goodman Estate Law, based in Laguna Hills, CA. The firm specializes in Estate Planning, Trust Administration, and Probate, helping individuals and families create or update wills and trusts. With a focus on personalized, compassionate, and professional guidance, Goodman Estate Law ensures clients’ assets and futures are protected during every stage of estate planning.