Probate in Whittier

Greenleaf Avenue, Uptown Whittier. Photo: Northwalker, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Whittier families often hold the same house for fifty years, uptown, in East Whittier or up in the hills, and a house in a parent’s own name almost always means a probate. John J. Donahue handles Whittier probates from his Los Angeles office.

Where a Whittier probate is filed

Whittier is its own city, but it is in Los Angeles County, so its estates go to the county’s Superior Court, Probate Division. Most hearings are at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse downtown, and many can be attended remotely, which matters to Whittier families who would rather not spend a morning on the 605 and the 5.

Big lots and families who stayed close

• Values. Most Whittier houses, and nearly all of those in the Whittier Hills, are worth more than $750,000, the ceiling for the shorter primary-home petition.
• Big lots. Older Whittier homes often sit on large lots with fruit trees, a second unit or room for one. A lot like that can be worth more to a builder than to a family buyer, and an executor should know that before listing.
• The fee scales with the value. On a $900,000 estate the basic statutory attorney fee is $21,000, approved by the court and paid from the estate at the end.
• Families who stayed close. In Whittier the children often live nearby and one usually handled everything at the end, which can help a probate or start an argument. Read a story like this →

Getting started

Find the original will and the trust binder, if there is one, and a copy of the deed. Keep the property insured and the tenant’s rent going to an account the family can document. Then call John; the first call is about what you have and what has arrived in the mail. The first 30 days, as a checklist →

Selling a Whittier house through probate

With full authority from the court, the executor can usually sell without a confirmation hearing, which saves weeks. Without it, the sale goes back to court and other buyers can overbid in the courtroom. Either way, the price should rest on an appraisal and real marketing, because the heirs will ask.

Property taxes are the other question. The rules for passing a parent’s lower tax base to a child changed in 2021, and they now generally apply only when the child makes the house their own home, and only up to a limit. Ask before deciding, because the answer changes the math.

Stories from families like yours

Probate anywhere in Los Angeles County →