First question: who values the house for the court?
When a Long Beach estate goes through probate in the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, the house is valued for the court's inventory by a court-appointed probate referee, not by an appraiser the family hires, unless the court waives that appointment. A private appraisal can still be useful for other decisions. Start by asking your attorney which value you need and why.
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How California Probate Values the House
In a formal probate, the personal representative must file an Inventory and Appraisal (Judicial Council form DE-160) within four months after letters are first issued; Probate Code section 8800 sets that timeline. The form divides the work. The personal representative values cash and cash-like items, such as bank accounts. Everything else, including real estate, goes on Attachment 2 to be appraised by a probate referee (Probate Code sections 8901 and 8902). Values are stated at fair market value as of the date of death.
The court can order that no referee is required (Probate Code section 8903); that is a request your attorney would make. Separately, for deaths on or after April 1, 2025, a decedent's main home in California with a gross value at death of no more than $750,000 can pass through a simpler court petition (form DE-310; Probate Code sections 13151 to 13154) instead of a full probate, and that petition also relies on an appraisal by a probate referee for the county.
So a private appraisal does not take the place of the referee's appraisal in the inventory (see form DE-147 and the courts' formal probate guide).
When a Separate Date-of-Death Appraisal Can Help
Ask your attorney or tax adviser whether one fits your case. Reasons include:
- Tax basis records for the heirs. Federal basis generally equals fair market value at the date of death (Internal Revenue Code section 1014; IRS Publication 551). For a U.S. citizen or resident who dies in 2026, a federal estate tax return (Form 706) is needed only when the gross estate plus adjusted taxable gifts and specific exemption exceeds $15,000,000, or to pass unused exclusion to a surviving spouse, and its instructions ask for any appraisals used.
- Planning a sale or a buyout among heirs. When a private sale needs court confirmation, the order confirming it finds that the bid is at least 90 percent of the appraised value, appraised within one year of the hearing (form DE-265); if more than a year has passed, reappraisal is required, and the petition states whether the probate referee's appraisal or reappraisal has been filed, will be filed, or was waived by court order (form DE-260). With a referee in the case, that test uses the referee's appraisal. A private market opinion can inform pricing, or a buyout between relatives, but does not set the floor.
- A disagreement about value. Heirs who question a figure may want an independent, documented opinion to review with counsel.
Where Long Beach Probate Cases Are Filed
The Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles handles probate through its Probate Division. Under the court's Local Rule 2.3, probate, trust, conservatorship and guardianship proceedings must be filed in the Central District, with limited exceptions for the North District; a decedent's estate, for example, may be filed there when the decedent lived in the North District or the petitioner lives there. The court's probate cover sheet (form PRO 010) asks the filer to choose between Central and North (Antelope Valley).
When the inventory is filed, the personal representative must also file a change of ownership statement with the county recorder or assessor (Revenue and Taxation Code section 480). For Long Beach property, that means the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk or the Los Angeles County Office of the Assessor.
What Shapes a Private Probate-Related Value
The date
The inventory looks to the date of death; a later buyout or sale may need a current value as well.
The condition
A home may be cleared out, repaired or updated during administration. A past-date value has to describe the house as it was then.
The readers
An heir weighing a buyout, a tax adviser keeping basis records and an attorney preparing for a hearing need different things. Name every intended user before work begins.
Looking Back to the Date of Death
A retrospective appraisal answers the question for a date already gone, using the sales and market conditions of that period rather than today's prices. If the home was later emptied or renovated, gather photographs, prior listings, inspection reports and repair invoices from around the date of death. In Long Beach's historic districts, the City's Certificate of Appropriateness approvals can show when exterior work such as re-roofing or window changes was approved. Anything the records cannot settle is stated as an assumption in the report. An online estimate, or the September 2026 citywide median on our service area page, is no substitute.
Tax questions belong with your adviser
The six-month alternate date applies only by an election on a federal estate tax return that lowers both the gross estate and the tax (Internal Revenue Code section 2032), and if a married decedent's home was community property, the surviving spouse's half may also take a new basis. Your tax adviser settles the date and documents; no appraisal can promise a tax outcome or a court's acceptance.
Useful Records for a Probate Request
| What to bring | How it helps |
|---|---|
| The address and kind of property | Points the research at the right home and sales |
| Date of death, and whether letters have issued | Sets the effective date and places the request in the probate timeline |
| Whether the referee's appraisal is complete | Shows whether a private appraisal would serve a separate purpose |
| Your attorney's instructions on use and readers | Defines the report before the fee is quoted |
| Condition records from around the date of death | Separates the home then from work done since |
| Who can open the house, and your deadline | Lets the visit and delivery be scheduled |
How a Probate-Related Assignment Runs
- Outline the assignment. Property, date of death or other effective date, use, readers and deadline. A written scope, fee and delivery estimate comes before any work.
- Open the house and the records. Arrange entry with the personal representative and provide what shows the home's condition on the effective date.
- Study that period. The appraiser weighs sales from that time and shows the path from evidence to value.
- Check the report. Review the effective date, the stated use and users, and the assumptions and limits, and take factual questions to the appraiser.
Our reports are prepared under USPAP. Professional standards govern how the work is done; they do not commit a court, an agency or another party to accept the result.
Fees and Delivery
Ask for a written scope, fee and delivery estimate. A past effective date, the property's complexity, entry through the personal representative and your timeline all shape the fee and schedule. If the value concerns a trust or an inheritance outside probate, see estate appraisals; for basis questions, see IRS step-up appraisals.
Ask About a Probate-Related Appraisal
Tell us the Long Beach address, the date your attorney wants valued and who will rely on the report, and we will explain what the work involves.
Request a probate appraisal quote · Call (562) 548-5502
Written with AI assistance for Eagle Home Appraisal Long Beach. It summarizes California probate rules as the courts publish them; it is not legal advice and does not value any property.