In a California probate the house already has an official appraiser, the probate referee, unless the court waives that appointment. A private report is for the questions the referee does not answer.
When a Rancho Santa Margarita estate goes through probate, state law decides who puts the official value on the house. Knowing what the referee does, and what is left for a private appraisal, can save the estate time and fees.
The referee's appraisal and the four-month inventory
Under Probate Code section 8800, the personal representative has four months from the date letters are first issued to file an Inventory and Appraisal, as Judicial Council form DE-147 explains; the inventory itself goes on form DE-160. The representative values cash-type items such as bank accounts. Everything else, the house included, is listed for the probate referee, and Probate Code sections 8901 and 8902 put that appraisal in the referee's hands. The State Controller appoints at least one probate referee for each county. Every inventory value is a fair market value fixed at the date of death.
A court order can also dispense with the referee. Probate Code section 8903 provides for that waiver, and DE-160 has a box to record the order; the values then come from another source. Unless the court makes that order, the inventory value of the house comes from the referee, and a private appraisal does not take its place.
Probate courthouse for Rancho Santa Margarita estates
The Superior Court of California, County of Orange, keeps its Probate/Mental Health clerk's office and courtrooms at the Costa Mesa Justice Complex. The court's designation list, effective June 30, 2025, assigns probate from Rancho Santa Margarita to that courthouse.
Main homes worth up to $750,000
If the owner died on or after April 1, 2025, a successor can ask the court to transfer the decedent's main California home without a full probate when it is worth no more than $750,000, under Probate Code sections 13151 to 13154 as summarized in the courts' self-help guide. The petition, form DE-310, needs an attached appraisal prepared on the inventory forms, and only a probate referee appointed for that county may prepare it. DE-310 applies the $750,000 figure to deaths before April 1, 2028.
Filings with the recorder or assessor
Form DE-147 tells the personal representative to file a change of ownership statement under Revenue and Taxation Code section 480 at the same time as the inventory, with the county recorder or assessor where the decedent owned real property. For a home in Rancho Santa Margarita, those offices are the Orange County Clerk-Recorder Department and the Orange County Assessor Department.
Where a private date-of-death appraisal can still help
None of these replaces the referee's work. Each is a question for the estate's attorney or tax adviser first.
- Basis for the people who inherit. Under Internal Revenue Code section 1014, inherited property generally takes a basis equal to its fair market value at death, and the IRS notes that a later sale above that basis is a taxable gain.
- An asking price for a sale. When a sale needs court confirmation, the order on form DE-265 finds that a private-sale bid reaches at least 90 percent of an appraisal made no more than a year before the hearing. Form DE-260 calls for the referee to reappraise, unless that is waived, once the hearing falls more than a year after the date of death. A private market opinion can inform an asking price, but it does not set that floor.
- A buyout among heirs, or a disagreement about value. One opinion of value for a stated date gives everyone the same starting point.
- A waiver request. If the attorney asks the court to dispense with the referee under section 8903, the inventory values have to come from somewhere, and an independent appraisal may be one source.
Date, condition and readers: three settings to fix first
The date
A question about the inventory concerns the date of death. If the question is a later sale or a buyout, the right date may be much closer to today. Confirm which date this assignment should carry.
The condition
By the time an estate is ready to sell, a house may have been emptied, cleaned, repaired or staged. A date-of-death value describes the house as it was on that day, from the sales and market conditions around that date, so keep dated photographs and invoices. Rancho Santa Margarita's housing is mostly from the 1980s and 1990s, according to the City's Housing Element, so it matters whether any updates came before or after the death. For a townhome or condominium, the association's dues and any assessment in place on that date are part of the picture.
The readers
The personal representative, the heirs, the attorney and a CPA can each need different things from a report. Name the intended users before the work begins.
Tax questions for your adviser
When a U.S. citizen or resident who dies in 2026 leaves an estate, the Instructions for Form 706 call for a federal estate tax return in two cases only: the gross estate passes $15,000,000 once adjusted taxable gifts and specific exemption are counted, or the executor elects portability of the unused exclusion for a surviving spouse. The same instructions ask filers to attach any appraisals used. California has required no estate tax return for deaths since January 1, 2005, according to the State Controller's Office. Your attorney or tax adviser confirms what the estate must file and which date to value.
Information to have ready
| Document or fact | Why the appraiser asks |
|---|---|
| Address, parcel number and property type | Identifies the house and the market to research. |
| Date of death and the date of letters, if issued | Frames the effective date and the inventory timing. |
| The attorney's instructions for this estate | Shows what the report must address before scope and fee are agreed. |
| Photographs and invoices, then and since | Separates the condition at death from later work. |
| Access arrangements and any hearing or sale date | Lets inspection and delivery be planned around the calendar. |
How a probate-related request proceeds
- You describe the estate's need: the address, the effective date, who will rely on the report and your deadline. A written scope, fee and delivery estimate comes before any commitment.
- Access is arranged if an inspection is needed, and you share what records exist about the house on the effective date and any changes since.
- Next comes the analysis: comparable sales and the market near that date, with the reasoning for the opinion of value set out in the report.
- Once it arrives, look over the effective date, the intended use and users, and the assumptions, and send any factual correction to the appraiser.
Fees and scheduling for probate work
Ask for a written scope, fee and delivery estimate. The property's size and complexity, a past effective date, access and a close hearing date can affect the work. If the inheritance does not involve probate, our estate appraisal page covers it, and the appraisal services page lists everything we do.
Opening a probate-related request
Send the Rancho Santa Margarita address, the people who will rely on the report and the effective date you need through our contact page, or call 949-523-1818.
Written for Eagle Home Appraisal Saddleback, it explains how probate-related appraisals work in California; it does not value a property or give legal or tax advice.