California Probate Code 8200 gives the person holding a deceased individual’s original will 30 days from learning of the death to deliver that will to the clerk of the superior court and to send a copy to the named executor. Miss the deadline and you can be held personally liable for any damages your delay causes.1California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 8200
Who the Statute Applies To
The duty falls on the “custodian” of the will, meaning whoever physically has the document when they learn the person who wrote it has died. That could be a spouse, an adult child, a friend, an attorney who kept the original in a firm safe, or anyone else the testator entrusted with it. The 30-day clock starts on the day you find out about the death, not the day of death itself.
One exception is written into the statute. If someone has already filed a petition to probate the will with the court, the custodian’s separate delivery obligation drops away. Once the will is in the probate system, a duplicate filing serves no purpose.1California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 8200
Where to Send the Original Will
The original goes to the clerk of the superior court in the county where the estate may be administered. Under Probate Code 7051, that is the county where the deceased person was domiciled at death, regardless of where the death actually occurred.2California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 7051 If you are unsure, start with the county where the person kept their permanent home.
Section 8200 allows only two delivery methods for the original: hand delivery in person, or registered or certified mail.1California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 8200 Regular first-class mail does not satisfy the statute. Registered or certified mail creates a paper trail proving the will was sent and received, which is what you want if anyone later questions whether you did your job.
The clerk charges a filing fee. If a probate case is opened for the estate, that fee is reimbursable as an administration expense.1California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 8200
Sending the Copy to the Executor
Delivering the original is only half of what Section 8200 requires. You also have to send a copy of the will to the person named as executor, if you know how to reach them. If the executor’s whereabouts are unknown to you, the copy goes instead to a beneficiary named in the will whom you can locate.1California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 8200
Delivery of that copy is governed by Probate Code 1215, which permits first-class mail to a U.S. address, international mail for addresses abroad, or personal hand delivery. Electronic delivery is allowed only when the recipient has formally consented on the appropriate court form.3California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 1215 The options for the copy are broader than the two methods allowed for the original.
What Filing the Will Does Not Do
Handing the will to the clerk does not open probate. The clerk simply holds the document, and a copy can be released later once someone pays the required fee and provides either a court order or a certified copy of the death certificate.1California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 8200
Someone still has to file a probate petition. Under Probate Code 8000, any interested person may petition to open probate at any time after the death, asking for the appointment of a personal representative, admission of the will to probate, or both.4California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 8000
If you are named as executor, note that a separate 30-day deadline may apply to you. Probate Code 8001 provides that an executor who fails to petition the court within 30 days of learning about the death and their appointment may be treated as having waived the right to serve, unless good cause for the delay is shown.5California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 8001 The custodian’s delivery duty and the executor’s petition duty are separate obligations that can fall on different people.
Personal Liability for Late Delivery
The consequence of ignoring Section 8200 is civil, not criminal. The custodian who fails to deliver the will as required is personally liable for all damages sustained by anyone injured by the failure.1California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 8200 “All damages” is broad language. If beneficiaries lose money because the estate sat idle while the will stayed in a drawer, the custodian can be on the hook for whatever that delay cost.
Downstream harms often flow from a late filing. Appointment of a personal representative can be held up. Bank accounts remain frozen longer than necessary. Creditor payments get delayed, sometimes generating interest or penalties the estate would not otherwise owe. All of those costs are the kind of damage a court could trace back to a custodian who sat on the will.
When the Original Will Cannot Be Found
The delivery duty assumes you actually have the will. If the original is missing, California still allows probate of a lost or destroyed will, but the petition must include a written statement of the will’s provisions or their substance. Where the court is satisfied that the will existed and its contents are proven, the provisions are set out in the order admitting the will to probate.6California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 8223
A photocopy of the signed will, or an unsigned final draft, can serve as that written statement. Testimony from the drafting attorney often helps corroborate that a copy matches the final signed version. Probate Code 8000 expressly permits a probate petition to go forward whether or not the will is in the petitioner’s possession, and whether it is lost, destroyed, or outside California.4California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 8000
The main hurdle with a missing will is the presumption of revocation. When the original was last known to be in the deceased person’s possession and cannot be found after death, courts generally presume the person destroyed it on purpose. Rebutting that presumption takes evidence, such as proof the will was destroyed by accident like a fire or a flood, or testimony that the deceased referred to the will as still in effect shortly before death. Families who suspect a will existed should gather that evidence early, before memories fade and paperwork gets discarded.