Since April 1, 2025, a California primary residence worth up to $750,000 can often pass to heirs through a streamlined court petition instead of full probate — a sevenfold jump from the old $184,500 figure that had been unchanged since 2020. For an inherited house in Fullerton, where median home values sit well above that old threshold, this single change under Assembly Bill 2016 is the difference between a multi-month petition and a case that can easily run past a year. Here’s exactly how the new threshold works, where it still falls short, and what it means in a city built around a university and a historic downtown.

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What AB 2016 Actually Changed

Before AB 2016, California’s small estate procedures let a primary residence pass outside full probate only if it was worth $184,500 or less — a figure that had not kept pace with home values anywhere in the state, let alone in Orange County. AB 2016 created a new, separate threshold specifically for a decedent’s primary residence: up to $750,000, measured by the property’s gross fair market value at the date of death, not its equity after any mortgage. The bill took effect for deaths occurring on or after April 1, 2025. If the decedent died before that date, the old rules and thresholds apply regardless of when the heirs get around to handling the estate.

The mechanism heirs use under this expanded threshold is a Petition to Determine Succession to Real Property, filed under Probate Code Section 13151 and the related sections AB 2016 amended. It’s still a court filing — there’s a hearing, notice to other heirs and interested parties, and a judge has to sign off — but it skips the appointment of a full personal representative, the inventory and appraisal process, creditor claim periods, and the accounting requirements that make standard probate slow. Estates that qualify typically resolve in a few months rather than the better part of a year.

How the $750,000 Is Measured — and What Else Counts

The $750,000 figure applies specifically to the primary residence. Separately, California’s general small estate threshold for other property — bank accounts, vehicles, personal belongings — sits at $184,500. Added together, that means an estate consisting of a primary residence worth up to $750,000 plus other assets up to $184,500 (a combined $934,500) can potentially avoid full probate entirely, using the real property petition for the house and a small estate affidavit for everything else. Go even slightly over either figure and the simplified path is off the table for that asset — there’s no partial credit or proration. This is also why getting an accurate, defensible date-of-death valuation matters: an appraisal that comes in at $760,000 versus $740,000 isn’t a rounding error here, it’s the difference between two entirely different court processes.

One detail that surprises heirs: the threshold is based on gross value, not what’s left after subtracting the mortgage. A Fullerton home worth $900,000 with a $400,000 loan balance still has a gross value of $900,000 for this purpose — well above the $750,000 cutoff — even though the heirs would only actually inherit $500,000 in equity. The size of any loan has no bearing on which probate track applies.

Does the $750,000 Figure Cover More Than the Primary Home?

Here the secondary sources covering AB 2016 don’t fully agree with each other, which is worth flagging rather than papering over. Some descriptions of the law frame the $750,000 figure as applying strictly to the decedent’s primary residence. Others describe it more broadly, as covering the primary residence or any other real property valued under $750,000 at death — which would mean a second home, a rental property, or vacant land could also qualify for the streamlined petition if its value falls under that same number. What isn’t in dispute is that the primary residence is covered. If a Fullerton estate includes a second property — a rental near one of the two campuses, say, or inherited land elsewhere — don’t assume either answer. Confirm directly with a probate attorney which threshold and which procedure apply to that specific parcel, because getting it wrong means filing the wrong petition and losing time you can’t get back.

When Full Probate Is Still Required Regardless of Value

Value alone doesn’t guarantee the streamlined path. Full probate is still generally necessary when title is unclear or contested among heirs, when the estate has debts or creditor claims that need formal administration to resolve, when there’s no will and intestate succession is disputed by potential heirs, or when the property was held in a way that doesn’t cleanly pass under these simplified procedures — commercial or mixed-use property, for instance, rather than a straightforward single-family residence. If siblings disagree about whether to sell or how to divide proceeds, that disagreement itself can push the matter into a more formal process even if the dollar value would otherwise qualify for the shortcut. A probate attorney reviewing the actual title and family situation — not just the appraised value — is the only reliable way to know which path actually applies to a specific Fullerton estate.

Why Fullerton’s Housing Stock Makes This Especially Relevant

Fullerton incorporated on February 15, 1904, and the 2020 census counted 143,617 residents across roughly 50,400 housing units — split almost evenly between owner-occupied and renter-occupied homes, which is unusual for a city of its size in northern Orange County. A meaningful share of that housing stock predates the modern zoning and tract-development era entirely: downtown Fullerton still has landmarks like the 1925 Fox Fullerton Theatre and the 1930 Plummer Auditorium, and many surrounding residential blocks date from the early and mid-20th century. Newer construction exists too — the Amerige Heights neighborhood was built out between 2001 and 2004 on the former Hughes Aircraft Ground Systems Group campus — but an inherited house in Fullerton is just as likely to be a decades-old property with an appraised value that’s climbed well past $184,500 and often past $750,000 as well, especially on larger or updated lots near the two college campuses.

Those two campuses matter for a different reason: Cal State Fullerton, established in 1957 and now the largest campus in the CSU system with nearly 40,000 students, and Fullerton College, the oldest continuously operating community college in California. Student and faculty housing demand around both campuses keeps rental and resale values firm in surrounding neighborhoods, which is part of why an inherited Fullerton property that might have cleared the old $184,500 bar without much thought now needs a careful, documented appraisal before anyone assumes which probate track applies.

It also means two houses on the same Fullerton street can land on opposite sides of the $750,000 line depending on lot size, proximity to campus, and whether the home has been updated — which is exactly why a single countywide or statewide rule of thumb about probate thresholds doesn’t hold up house to house, let alone city to city. The appraisal has to be specific to the actual property.

If Full Probate Does Apply: The Overbid Process You Should Know About

If the estate doesn’t qualify for the streamlined petition — the value is too high, title is unclear, or the personal representative only has limited authority under the Independent Administration of Estates Act — selling the house usually requires court confirmation of the sale. That process includes something most heirs have never heard of until they’re in the middle of it: an overbid hearing. The court sets a confirmation hearing date, the originally accepted offer becomes the opening bid, and any other qualified buyer can show up in the courtroom and outbid it in required increments, in front of the judge. The original buyer can lose the house to a higher bidder on the spot. It’s a real procedural feature of California probate sales, not a formality, and it means an accepted offer under full probate isn’t truly final until the judge confirms it — sometimes weeks or months after the offer was first accepted. A buyer experienced with probate transactions will structure the offer and timeline with that overbid risk in mind; one that isn’t may walk away if a hearing date keeps getting continued.

Orange County’s Probate Court and What Filing There Involves

Regardless of which procedure applies, the filing happens in Orange County Superior Court. We’ve broken down separately what filing fees, hearing timelines, and the confirmation process look like at that specific courthouse, which is worth reading if you haven’t dealt with this court before — procedures, local forms, and scheduling can differ meaningfully from county to county even though the underlying Probate Code is statewide.

Don’t Forget the Stepped-Up Basis

Separate from which probate procedure applies, an inherited house generally gets a stepped-up tax basis to its fair market value at the date of death, which can significantly reduce or eliminate capital gains tax if heirs sell soon after inheriting rather than years later after the property has appreciated further. We’ve explained how the stepped-up basis actually works and the records you need to document it — and that same date-of-death appraisal you need for the stepped-up basis is often the same number that determines which probate track applies, so it’s worth getting one solid, defensible valuation rather than several conflicting estimates.

What Happens When Heirs Can’t Agree

A streamlined probate value doesn’t make a family disagreement go away. If three siblings inherit a Fullerton house equally and one wants to keep it, one wants to sell, and one wants to rent it out, none of them can unilaterally force the others to do anything with the whole property — each co-owner only controls their own fractional share. When that disagreement can’t be resolved informally, any co-owner can file a partition action asking the court to either divide the property (rarely practical with a single house) or order it sold and the proceeds split. Partition actions have their own deadlines and procedural requirements, and they’re slower and more expensive than simply agreeing to sell. If a sale is the likely outcome anyway, it’s almost always cheaper for everyone to agree to list or sell early rather than litigate your way to the same destination.

When Selling Fast Isn’t the Right Call

An inherited house isn’t automatically something to offload quickly. If the heirs want to keep the property as a rental or a family home, the stepped-up basis and a potential Prop 19 reassessment are separate questions from how it’s sold, and a hasty sale forecloses options that don’t come back. If there’s no urgency — no pending debts against the estate, no disagreement among heirs, no maintenance emergency — listing the property conventionally once probate (in whichever form) clears will typically net more than a cash sale, particularly in a market with steady demand near two college campuses. A cash sale makes the most sense when heirs live out of state and can’t manage repairs or showings, when the estate needs liquidity to pay debts or taxes before distribution, when there are multiple heirs who simply want to divide proceeds and move on without months of coordination, or when the property needs work that would otherwise delay closing past when the estate needs to resolve.

Don’t Forget Prop 19’s Reassessment Trigger

Which probate procedure applies is a separate question from what happens to the property’s tax bill. Since Prop 19 took effect in 2021, inheriting a parent’s home no longer guarantees you keep their lower assessed value unless you move in as your primary residence within a year and the home’s value is within the exclusion limits — otherwise the county reassesses the property to current market value, which in a city like Fullerton can multiply the annual property tax bill several times over. We’ve laid out exactly how that reassessment works and the narrow exclusion that still applies, and it’s worth reading before deciding whether to keep, rent, or sell an inherited Fullerton house, since the tax consequence of “keep it” is often far larger than heirs expect going in.

Questions Fullerton Heirs Ask Most

Does AB 2016 change how much capital gains tax we’ll owe? No. The threshold only affects which court procedure transfers title — it has nothing to do with the stepped-up basis or capital gains calculation covered above. Those are separate questions governed by federal and state tax law, not the Probate Code.

Can we sell the house before the petition is granted? You can market it and accept an offer, but you generally can’t close escrow and transfer clear title until the court has granted the petition (or, under full probate, confirmed the sale). Title companies will not insure a transfer from heirs who don’t yet have documented legal authority to convey the property, so get the petition moving first and use the time it takes to prepare the house for market, order repairs, or interview buyers.

Is the streamlined petition actually cheaper than full probate? Generally yes, on both attorney fees and court costs, because it skips the ongoing accounting and administration work a personal representative otherwise has to complete. It isn’t free, though — there’s still a filing fee, a hearing, and typically legal help is worth having even for the simplified version, particularly in a case with multiple heirs or any ambiguity about the will.

First Steps for a Fullerton Heir

Get a credible date-of-death appraisal or broker price opinion before assuming which threshold the property falls under
Pull the recorded deed to confirm exactly how title was held — individually, in trust, or jointly
Talk to a probate attorney about whether the Petition to Determine Succession to Real Property actually applies to this specific estate, not just whether the value is under $750,000
Keep the stepped-up basis appraisal and the probate valuation consistent, or be ready to explain any difference to the IRS and FTB later
Decide as a family, early, whether the goal is to sell, rent, or keep the house — that decision shapes everything else about timeline and process

If the house needs to sell quickly once the court process clears — or if the heirs would simply rather not manage repairs, showings, or a multi-month listing from out of town — Cash Home Buyers CA can put together a no-obligation cash offer and work directly with the estate’s attorney on timing. You can also see how our process for an inherited Fullerton house works before deciding anything.

What AB 2016’s New $750,000 Threshold Means for an Inherited House in Fullerton, CA