When someone has passed away and the family home is in a court probate, the first surprise is usually this: the number that goes on the court’s inventory is not set by an appraiser you hire. In California the county’s probate referee values the house, unless the judge says otherwise. So what is a private appraisal for? Sometimes a lot, and sometimes nothing. Here is how to tell, for a Huntington Beach home.

Ask for a probate appraisal quote · Phone 657-845-8112

Who values the house in a probate?

The referee. Within four months of the date the court first issues letters, the personal representative files an Inventory and Appraisal on Form DE-160 (Probate Code section 8800). The representative values cash and bank accounts. Real estate and other non-cash property are listed for the referee, and Probate Code sections 8901 and 8902 say a referee appointed for the county does that appraisal. The duties statement on Form DE-147 tells representatives the same thing.

A judge can waive the referee (section 8903), but that takes a court order, so it is a question for your attorney. It does not happen on its own. The short version: a private appraisal does not replace the referee’s number. It can still sit beside it and do a different job.

When a private appraisal is worth having

Ask your attorney about each of these before you order anything.

Choosing an asking price. If a sale needs the court’s approval, the judge checks that the private-sale bid is at least 90% of an appraised value dated within a year of the hearing (Form DE-265), and if more than a year has passed between the date of passing and the hearing, Form DE-260 calls for a reappraisal. A private market opinion can help you decide where to start. It is not the number that 90% is measured against.
The heirs’ tax records. Under Internal Revenue Code section 1014, an heir’s basis generally follows the home’s fair market value on the date of passing. A private appraisal for that date can document it. Your tax adviser says what the records need.
One heir keeping the house. If a sibling wants to stay and buy the others out, an independent value gives everyone something fair to talk from.
Asking the court to waive the referee. If your attorney is weighing it, ask what evidence of value the request would need.

If the home is in a trust or passing outside probate, start on the estate appraisals page instead.

A smaller court process for a main home worth $750,000 or less

For people who passed away on or after April 1, 2025, California has a shorter procedure for the owner’s main home when its gross value on the date of passing was $750,000 or less. Instead of a full probate, a successor petitions on Form DE-310 under Probate Code sections 13151 to 13154, and the petition still attaches the county referee’s appraisal. Whether a given Huntington Beach home qualifies depends on its value then and the statute’s other conditions, which your attorney can check. The courts’ self-help page on simpler transfers explains it.

Where it is heard, and who to tell afterward

Orange County probate is heard at the Superior Court’s Costa Mesa Justice Complex, and the court’s designation list sends Huntington Beach there. Your notices will name the department and the hearing dates.

Filing the inventory also means a change-of-ownership statement goes to the recorder or assessor of each county where the person owned real property (Revenue and Taxation Code section 480). For Orange County that is the Clerk-Recorder or the Assessor.

Looking back to the date of passing

Form DE-160 asks for values on the date of passing, and an appraisal for the heirs’ basis is pinned to the same day, so the work looks backward. The appraiser studies sales and market conditions around that date and does not assume today’s prices fit.

The house has to be pictured as it was then. If it has been cleared out, repaired or remodeled since, photographs, an old listing, inspection reports and receipts show the earlier condition. Where nothing survives, the report says what it assumed. Location matters as much: a Huntington Harbour house with a private dock, a home a few blocks from downtown and a property beside Huntington Central Park each need sales of their own kind.

A word on the federal estate tax return

Few estates file one. For a U.S. citizen or resident who passes away in 2026, the Form 706 instructions call for a return when the gross estate plus adjusted taxable gifts and the specific exemption exceed $15,000,000, or when the executor wants to pass the unused exclusion to a surviving spouse. If one is filed, Schedule A asks how real estate was valued and for the appraisals relied on. Whether that reaches your estate is for your attorney or tax adviser. No appraisal decides a tax outcome.

Have these ready for the first call

The date of passing and, if a case is open, the date letters were issued
What your attorney wants for the house and the inventory
The address, the type of home and how we will get in
Anything showing the home’s condition then, and any work done since
Plans to list or sell, and any hearing date
Who will read and rely on the report

How it goes

A call. The property, the date, the purpose, the readers and your deadline. Then a written scope, fee and delivery estimate before any work.
The house and its records. The visit is arranged around you, and your evidence of the home’s condition on that date is reviewed.
Sales around the date. Comparable sales and conditions from around then, with the reasoning written out.
Reading the report. Check the date, the stated use and the assumptions. Send factual questions about the home back to us.

Cost and timing

Ask for the scope, fee and delivery estimate in writing. The date, the records on hand, access and any court or sale dates all affect them. A home outside probate belongs on the estate appraisals page, and tax-basis questions on IRS step-up appraisals. Everything we do is listed under appraisal services.

Start with the house and the date

Tell us the Huntington Beach address, your part in the estate and what your attorney has asked for.