Rules for will executors in California are changing. What’s different?
After a family member has died, even if you had prepared for it, there are still many challenges ahead to settle their estate and not much time to sort them out. So if you’ve been named as executor in a will, hopefully we can answer some of your questions. For Californians, there are two things you should know immediately: Being named in the will doesn't make you the executor yet. And if the estate goes through probate in California, and the person who died owed child support, a new rule this year requires you to tell the state's child support agency about the death within 90 days after the court appoints you. That rule changes again in January.
Let’s get into what this means.
Photo by Luwadlin Bosman on Unsplash
Being named isn't the same as being appointed
A will that names you as executor is really a nomination. It tells the court who your loved one wanted in charge, and the court usually goes along with it. But you can't act for the estate until a judge signs an order and the court issues what are called letters testamentary. (If there's no will, the court picks an administrator and issues letters of administration, which work the same way.) Letters are what the bank and pretty much everyone else will ask to see before they'll talk to you. They matter for another reason too, which is that some of your early deadlines count from the day letters are issued, not from the date of death.
Not every estate goes through this. If your loved one had a living trust with their assets already titled in it, the successor trustee handles most of it outside of court, and that has its own rules we won't cover here. Some smaller estates can skip full probate too. For deaths on or after April 1, 2025, a main home worth up to $750,000 may be able to pass through a shorter court petition, and up to $239,700 in other property can often be collected with a small estate affidavit. If the estate does go through probate, though, the first 90 days after letters come with a list you'll want to know about.
The four notices due in your first 90 days
California Probate Code section 9202 says the executor, or the estate's lawyer, has to notify certain state agencies within 90 days after letters are first issued. The point is to give the state a fair shot at collecting what it's owed before money goes out to the family. Since 2008, there have been three of these notices. For estates where letters are first issued on or after January 1, 2026, there are four.
Department of Health Care Services, if your loved one got Medi-Cal or was the surviving spouse of someone who did. You can now send this one online through the department's website, and mail still works.
California Victim Compensation Board, if you know that an heir or beneficiary is in prison or jail, or has been in the past.
Franchise Tax Board, in every estate. There are no conditions on this one.
Department of Child Support Services, if you know or have reason to believe your loved one owed child support under a court order. This is the new one.
The 90-day deadline for the four state notices starts when the court issues letters, not on the date of death.
The child support notice came from AB 1521, a big bill full of court changes that the governor signed in October 2025. Once the department gets your notice, the local child support agency has four months to file a claim against the estate. Unpaid support is a debt like any other the estate owes, and debts get dealt with before anything goes out to the people named in the will.
You might be wondering how hard you're supposed to dig. The law as it stands today doesn't really say, and that's part of what the Legislature went back and changed this year. In the meantime, if you've found old family court papers in a drawer, or a pay stub with a child support deduction on it, tell your lawyer early so the notice goes out on time.
The Franchise Tax Board gets notice in every California probate estate, within 90 days after letters are issued.
What changes again on January 1, 2027
On September 20, 2026, Governor Newsom signed SB 1264. It rewrites the child support notice for estates where letters are issued on or after January 1, 2027, and it changes two things. One makes the notice cover more people, and the other makes it easier to know when you owe it.
The first change is that the notice will apply when an heir or beneficiary owes court-ordered child support, as well as when the deceased loved one did. The idea, according to the group that backed the bill, is to let the child support agency know an inheritance is headed to someone who owes support. The second change clarifies that you only need to send notice if you actually know about the support order, and the law now says plainly that you don't have to go looking for one.
Side by side
The child support notice, this year and next
| Rule | Letters issued in 2026 | Letters issued in 2027 or later |
|---|---|---|
| Whose support order triggers notice | Your loved one's | Your loved one's, or an heir's or beneficiary's |
| What you have to know | You know or have reason to believe there's an order | You actually know there's an order |
| Duty to go looking | The law doesn't say | None, stated in the law |
| When notice is due | Within 90 days after letters | Within 90 days after letters |
| Who gets the notice | Director of Child Support Services | Director of Child Support Services |
The last two rows are the same either way. If the court issued your letters during 2026, the version in effect right now is the one written for your estate. Ask your lawyer whether anything shifts for you once the new year starts.
Starting with letters issued on or after January 1, 2027, the child support notice also covers heirs and beneficiaries who owe support.
Keeping track of it all
These notices are a small part of what an executor does. They're easy to miss, though, because nobody hands you a checklist along with your letters. When it's time to close the estate, the court will want to know that each notice went out, and San Diego Superior Court's local form for closing an estate now has a line specifically for the child support notice. To stay organized, keep a dedicated file or folder containing every notice sent along with when you sent it out.
If you've just been named executor and aren't sure where to begin, or your letters were issued this year and you haven't sent these notices yet, give our office a call. We can walk through where your estate stands.