When the person you cared for dies, the caring does not stop at once. It turns into paperwork: benefits to stop, accounts to close, letters from creditors, a car in the driveway nobody can sell. Families who were already stretched by months or years of caregiving often find this stage the most confusing, because nobody explains the order in which things need to happen.
This guide sets out that order for California. It is written for the adult child or relative who is handling a parent’s affairs, often without a lawyer, and it focuses on the money and benefits questions that come up first. It is general information, not legal advice; where a lot is at stake or relatives disagree, speak to a probate lawyer or your county court’s self-help centre.
The First Few Days: Death Certificates and Safety
- Order certified copies of the death certificate. The funeral home usually orders them, or you can order them from the county recorder or the vital records office in the county where the death occurred. Banks, insurers, pension plans and the DMV will each want one, and some will keep it. Order more than you think you need; getting extra copies later takes longer.
- Secure the home, the car and important papers. Look for a will, a trust, a list of accounts, recent bank and brokerage statements, insurance policies and the last tax return.
- Do not pay bills or close accounts in a rush. Paying a creditor from your own money, or moving money out of a parent’s account before you have authority, can create problems later. Protect things; do not distribute them yet.
- Forward the mail to yourself through the Postal Service so that statements and notices are not missed.
Social Security: Report the Death and Expect to Return a Payment
In most cases the funeral home reports the death to the Social Security Administration if you give it the parent’s Social Security number. Confirm that it has, or call Social Security yourself.
The rule that surprises families: Social Security benefits are paid in arrears, so the payment that arrives in the month after death is payment for the month of death, and it is not payable. If it was deposited, Social Security will generally reclaim it from the bank. Do not spend it, and do not close the account until Social Security has recovered any payment it is owed, or the recovery can become a letter addressed to the family.
Other points to raise with Social Security:
- Survivors benefits. A surviving spouse, and in some cases a minor or disabled child, may be entitled to benefits on the parent’s record. These must be applied for.
- The lump-sum death payment. A one-time payment of $255 can be made to an eligible surviving spouse or child. It is not paid to other relatives or to the estate.
- SSI. If the parent received Supplemental Security Income, report the death as well; the rules on the final payment are similar.
If the parent received a pension, veterans benefits or a state benefit, each payer needs to be told separately.
Medi-Cal and IHSS
- Tell the county social services office that handled Medi-Cal. Coverage ends at death, and the county will close the case.
- Watch for a Medi-Cal estate recovery letter. The Department of Health Care Services may seek repayment of certain Medi-Cal costs from the estate of a person who was 55 or older when services were received, but only from assets that pass through probate, and with hardship waivers and exemptions, for example where there is a surviving spouse. Our guide to Medi-Cal estate recovery explains what it reaches and how to ask for a waiver.
- If a relative was the parent’s paid IHSS provider, final timesheets still need to be submitted for hours worked up to the date of death. Our guide to IHSS pay when a recipient dies covers the provider’s side, and our guide to unemployment insurance for IHSS providers covers what happens to the provider’s income afterwards.
Debts: What the Family Does and Does Not Owe
The general rule is that a parent’s debts are paid from the parent’s estate, not by the children. You are not personally liable for your parent’s credit card, medical bill or personal loan just because you are their child or because you were their caregiver. The main exceptions are debts you co-signed or guaranteed, joint accounts, and, for a surviving spouse, certain debts under California’s community property rules.
Debt collectors are allowed to contact the person handling the estate to ask about paying from the estate’s assets. They are not allowed to suggest that relatives must pay from their own money when they do not have to. Both the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and California’s Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act prohibit false or misleading statements by debt collectors. A calm written reply, stating that you are not personally responsible and asking the collector to deal with the estate, is usually enough. Our guide to debt collectors and protected benefits covers collectors’ tactics in more detail.
If the estate does not have enough to pay every creditor, California law sets an order of priority, and some creditors will simply not be paid. That is not a family obligation to make up.
Passing On What Is Left: Probate Is Often Not Needed
Probate is the court process for transferring a person’s property after death. In California it can take many months and involves statutory fees, so it is worth knowing how much can pass without it.
Assets that skip probate entirely
- Accounts with a named beneficiary or payable-on-death designation. The bank or insurer pays the named person on proof of death and identity.
- Retirement accounts and life insurance pass to the named beneficiaries.
- Jointly held property with right of survivorship passes to the surviving owner.
- Property held in a living trust is handled by the successor trustee named in the trust, without court involvement.
- A house with a revocable transfer on death deed, a California deed that names who receives the property at death, passes to the named beneficiary, subject to the steps the Probate Code sets out.
Start by listing every asset and marking which of these, if any, applies. What is left is the probate estate.
The small estate affidavit (Probate Code section 13100)
If the value of the probate estate, not counting items like the ones above, is below a ceiling set in the Probate Code, the people entitled to the property can collect personal property, such as money in a bank account without a beneficiary, by signing an affidavit instead of going to court. The key conditions:
- At least 40 days must have passed since the death.
- The estate’s value must be under the current limit. The Judicial Council adjusts the dollar limit every three years for inflation, so check the current figure on the California Courts self-help website rather than relying on a number you have seen elsewhere.
- No probate case may be open for the estate.
- The affidavit must be signed under penalty of perjury by the person or people entitled to the property, and presented to whoever holds it, with a certified death certificate.
Banks often have their own form or checklist for this. If a bank refuses a correctly completed affidavit, ask to speak to its estate settlement department.
Real estate
A house is usually the largest asset and the hardest to transfer. California has simplified procedures for real property, including an affidavit for real property of small value and a court petition to determine succession that is simpler than full probate. A 2024 change to the Probate Code (AB 2016) added a petition route for a decedent’s primary residence below a stated value, for deaths on or after April 2025. Whether a particular house qualifies depends on its value and how title is held, so this is a good point to check with the court’s self-help centre or a probate lawyer before choosing a route.
A surviving spouse or registered domestic partner may be able to use a spousal or domestic partner property petition, which is also simpler than probate.
The car
The California DMV allows a vehicle to be transferred without probate using Form REG 5, Affidavit for Transfer Without Probate, when the conditions on the form are met, together with the title and a death certificate. If the car was registered to the parent and another person with “or” between their names, the surviving owner can usually transfer it more simply.
Taxes and Identity Theft
- A final income tax return is usually due for the year of death, filed by the executor, administrator or the person responsible for the parent’s property. A tax preparer can advise on whether the estate also needs its own return.
- Protect the parent’s identity. Criminals use the identities of people who have died. Social Security notifies the credit reporting agencies in most cases, but you can also ask each of the three agencies to place a deceased notice on the file, and cancel credit cards once any balances are dealt with through the estate.
- Cancel services that charge automatically: phone, streaming, subscriptions, memberships. Ask for refunds of anything paid in advance.
Look After Yourself Too
Caregivers often move straight from the final months of care into the administration without a break, and then find their own income has stopped at the same time. If you were employed caring for your parent, check whether you qualify for unemployment insurance or other help. If you took time off work to care, California’s paid family leave does not cover the period after death, but your employer may have bereavement leave: California law generally requires employers with five or more employees to allow up to five days of bereavement leave for an eligible employee after the death of a family member, and the rules on pay depend on the employer’s policy. Grief support is available through hospices, which usually offer bereavement services to families for some time after a death, and through the Area Agency on Aging.
The Short Version
Order plenty of certified death certificates. Make sure Social Security knows, and do not spend or withdraw the payment that arrives after the death. Tell the county that ran Medi-Cal, and expect a possible estate recovery letter that may be waivable. You are generally not personally responsible for your parent’s debts; tell collectors to deal with the estate. List every asset, set aside those with beneficiaries or in a trust, and check whether what is left can pass by small estate affidavit, after 40 days and under the current limit, or by a simplified court petition for real property. Use DMV Form REG 5 for the car.
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Probate and benefit rules change and dollar limits are adjusted periodically; confirm the current rules with the California Courts self-help centre, Social Security or a probate lawyer before relying on them.