Are you the executor, or waiting on one? Learn how long it can take before the estate closes.
How Long Does Probate Take? Creditor Periods, Court Deadlines and the Small-Estate Shortcut
Read the steps below in order to learn what sets your timeline: the creditor claim period sets the floor, the inventory and tax deadlines set the pace, and the small-estate section tells you which estates can skip probate after a short wait.
Quick answer
California's court self-help guide says a formal probate typically takes 9 to 18 months, and if you are the executor there, California requires you to ask for final distribution or report on the estate within one year after letters are issued, or 18 months if a federal estate tax return is required. The floor in most states is the creditor claim period: four months after letters in California, four months after first publication in Arizona and three months after first publication in Florida. Estates small enough for an affidavit can skip probate after 30 days in Arizona and Texas or 40 days in California.
Free tool
Choose your state and enter an estate value to learn the attorney and executor fees its statute sets, tier by tier, or the rule where it sets no schedule, and the state's small-estate limit, each with its source.
By the Legal Cost by State Editorial Team·Last updated and source-checked October 14, 2026
What to do next
Three dates you can find before anyone asks you again.
1
Find the date letters were issued
Letters are the court document that proves the executor's authority, and most deadlines on this page count from that date, not from the death.
2
Put the creditor period's end date and the inventory due date on a calendar
In California both run four months from letters; Arizona and Florida count the creditor period from the first publication of the notice.
3
Ask whether a federal estate tax return is required
If one is, it is due 9 months after the death, and California's final report deadline moves from one year to 18 months after letters.
The steps, in order, with the deadlines the law sets
California's steps, each set by statute; other states follow a similar order with their own time limits.
1
File the petition and publish notice
The petition to open probate is filed in the county where the person lived. Notice of the hearing must be published in a newspaper before the hearing, and the court will not hear the petition without proof of publication (Probate Code sections 8120 and 8124).
2
Appointment and letters
At the hearing the judge appoints the executor or administrator, who receives letters; most later deadlines run from this date.
3
Inventory within four months
The inventory and appraisal is due within four months after letters are first issued, and the court can allow more time when reasonable (section 8800).
4
Creditor claims
Creditors must file by the later of four months after letters are first issued or 60 days after notice is mailed or delivered to them (section 9100).
5
Taxes
If a federal estate tax return is required, it is due 9 months after the date of death (26 U.S.C. 6075). Final personal income tax returns also have to be filed.
6
Final report and distribution
The executor must petition for final distribution, or report on the status of the estate, within one year after letters are issued, or 18 months if a federal estate tax return is required (section 12200).
Learn more. Tap a topic to open it.
Learn the creditor claim periods in California, Arizona and Florida, with their outer limits.
You cannot safely distribute an estate until the time for creditors to claim has run.
California: four months after letters
Or 60 days after notice is mailed to a known creditor, whichever is later (Probate Code section 9100).
Arizona: four months after first publication
The personal representative publishes a notice once a week for three weeks; claims are due within four months after the first publication, or for known creditors within 60 days after mailed notice if that is later (A.R.S. 14-3801). An outer limit of two years after death, plus any remaining notice period, applies under section 14-3803.
Florida: three months after first publication
Or 30 days after a creditor is served with the notice, whichever is later (section 733.702). Regardless of notice, claims are barred two years after the death except as the statute provides (section 733.710).
Learn the earliest close Arizona allows and the usual range California's courts give.
Arizona puts a number on the fastest informal close. A personal representative may close an estate by sworn statement no earlier than four months after the original appointment, and only after the creditor period has run and the estate has been fully administered and distributed (A.R.S. 14-3933).
California's court self-help guide gives the ordinary range: the entire process typically takes 9 to 18 months and can take longer.
Learn what can add hearings or waiting: contests, sales, taxes, disputed claims, other states.
None of these has a statutory duration; each adds steps, hearings or waiting.
A will contest or a dispute among heirs
Litigation runs on the court calendar, not the probate checklist.
Selling real estate
Listing and selling property, and in some states getting the court to confirm the sale, adds steps before anything is distributed.
A federal estate tax return
It moves California's final-distribution deadline from one year to 18 months.
Disputed creditor claims
A rejected claim can lead to a lawsuit that must be resolved before final distribution.
Property in another state
Real estate elsewhere can need a second, ancillary probate in that state.
Missing heirs or a business to wind down
Finding people and valuing or closing a business both add time.
Learn the affidavit waiting periods and limits in California, Arizona and Texas.
If the estate is under a state's small-estate limit, you, as an heir, can often collect property with an affidavit instead of a court case, after a fixed waiting period. California allows it 40 days after death when the estate is not over $208,850 for deaths on or after April 1, 2025 (Probate Code section 13100 and the courts' adjusted limits). Arizona allows it 30 days after death for personal property up to $200,000, and six months after death for in-state real property up to $300,000 (A.R.S. 14-3971). Texas allows a small estate affidavit for estates without a will 30 days after death when the estate, excluding the homestead and exempt property, is not over $75,000, and a judge must approve it (Estates Code section 205.001).
Learn the Texas time limit on admitting a will to probate.
In Texas, a will generally may not be admitted to probate after the fourth anniversary of the death unless the person applying shows they were not in default in failing to present it on time (Estates Code section 256.003).
The creditor period, the inventory deadline and the tax return date mark the earliest an estate can finish.
Frequently Asked Questions
Tap a question to see the answer.
In some states, if nothing goes wrong. Arizona lets an estate close by sworn statement four months after the appointment at the earliest; California courts say 9 to 18 months is typical.
Each step has its own period: published notice before the hearing, a four-month inventory deadline, a creditor period of at least four months after letters, and a final petition or status report due within one year after letters.
Four months after letters in California, four months after first publication in Arizona and three months after first publication in Florida, with later dates for creditors who receive mailed or served notice.
Within 9 months after the date of death, if the estate must file one (26 U.S.C. 6075).
Some states have one. In Texas a will generally cannot be admitted to probate after the fourth anniversary of the death unless the applicant was not in default (Estates Code section 256.003).
The waiting period is set by statute: 40 days after death in California, 30 days in Arizona and Texas. Texas also requires a judge to approve the affidavit, which adds the court's processing time.
Usually there is no court case to wait on. In California the trustee must serve notice within 60 days after the death, and a trust contest is barred 120 days after that notice is served, or 60 days after a copy of the trust is delivered within that window if later (Probate Code sections 16061.7 and 16061.8).
The executor, within the deadlines the statute and the court set; the court can allow more time when it is needed.
Information on this page reflects laws and published figures as of October 14, 2026. This is general information, not legal advice, and not a prediction for any matter. Rules and fees change; check the court or agency page linked for each figure.
Ready for the numbers in your state? The tool is free.