San Mateo County, CA Probate Information

Before filing anything with the San Mateo probate clerk, know exactly what is in the estate. The right path — small-estate affidavit, Petition to Determine Succession to Real Property, Spousal Property Petition, or full probate — depends entirely on the value and type of the assets. San Mateo posts a tentative ruling on every probate matter by 3:00 PM the day before the hearing, so a petition filed with gaps draws a tentative ruling that continues the matter, adding weeks to the case.

Identify every bank account, brokerage, retirement plan, life insurance policy, business interest, and parcel of real property — Peninsula real estate values make the small-estate caps easy to exceed here — and every debt, before choosing the path. Sunset's asset-discovery work, searching more than 2,300 financial institutions, exists for this step.

The Probate Division of the San Mateo Superior Court hears every probate matter in the county — decedents' estates, succession and spousal petitions, conservatorships, guardianships, trust matters, and elder-abuse proceedings — from Department 13 at the Hall of Justice, 400 County Center, in Redwood City. Families everywhere in the county, from Daly City to Half Moon Bay to East Palo Alto, file here; the court's Northern (South San Francisco) and Central (San Mateo) branches handle no probate, and the Central branch has no on-site clerk's office or drop box.

Venue in San Mateo is proper when the decedent was domiciled in the county at death (Cal. Prob. Code § 7051), or owned San Mateo County real property as a non-resident (ancillary administration). Probate is heard on the morning calendar in Courtroom 2C, with a separate afternoon trial calendar.

One probate department. All San Mateo probate is heard in Department 13, Courtroom 2C, at the Hall of Justice in Redwood City. The Northern (South San Francisco) and Central (San Mateo) branches handle no probate, and the Central branch has no clerk's office or drop box.

The clerk window is appointment-only, mornings only. The probate window is open by appointment only, Monday through Friday from 8:30 AM to 1:00 PM. Schedule an in-person appointment through the court website before going in; walk-ins are not accommodated.

Tentative rulings drive the calendar. San Mateo posts a tentative ruling on every probate matter by 3:00 PM the court day before the hearing, at web.sanmateocourt.org, and keeps it up for 5 calendar days. Read it before you appear — a ruling that flags a defect continues the matter unless you resolve it.

Attorneys must e-file; families may. Probate e-filing through Odyssey eFileCA has been mandatory for attorneys since January 21, 2020. Self-represented filers may e-file or file on paper by appointment. Original wills, codicils, bonds, and estate-planning documents are always lodged on paper.

Zoom is standard for hearings. Department 13 appearances run by Zoom (meeting ID 161 920 9458, passcode 696850, dial-in +1 (669) 254-5252). Appear by video, sign in with your full first and last name, and check in with the clerk by 8:45 AM. Recording is prohibited.

Local forms are mandatory. Unlike some counties, San Mateo requires several local forms alongside the DE-series — notably PR-5 (probate referee) before Letters issue and PR-13 (newspaper listings) for publication compliance.

A San Mateo attorney is advisable when the estate exceeds $1 million — common on the Peninsula, where a single home often clears that alone — when a will contest or heir dispute is likely, when the estate holds business interests or out-of-state property, when ancillary administration is needed for a non-resident decedent, or when tentative rulings recur and the family cannot clear the flagged deficiencies. Because San Mateo's Self-Help Center does not cover decedent's estates, self-represented families rely on the court's petition-document instructions and the county law library — workable for cooperative-family cases, but thin support for anything contested. Sunset can connect families to a vetted San Mateo probate attorney when the situation requires counsel.

Find the accounts and assets. Sunset searches more than 2,300 financial institutions and San Mateo County public records to surface bank accounts, retirement plans, brokerage holdings, life insurance, Peninsula real estate (with community-property characterization), business interests, and unclaimed property.

Generate the probate packet. Sunset assembles the full San Mateo filing packet for estate settlement: the Judicial Council DE-series forms for your path plus the mandatory local forms the case needs, including the PR-5 probate-referee request and the PR-13 newspaper-listings form.

Find a local probate attorney. When the situation calls for counsel, Sunset connects families to a vetted San Mateo probate attorney.

Sunset is free for families. Revenue comes from bank partners that pay Sunset while estate funds sit in an FDIC-insured estate account ($3M coverage).