What an Administrator Needs on Paper for the Court

An administrator's paperwork for a house sale starts with letters: letters testamentary if the will named you as executor, letters of administration if there was no will or no executor who could serve. The court issues them only after it appoints you and you have signed the affirmation and posted any bond it requires, and one line on them decides the rest: whether you hold full or limited authority under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. That line sends the sale either down the notice-of-proposed-action route or to a confirmation hearing, and escrow, title and any cash buyer will ask to see it before anything else.

This article lists the papers, what each one proves, and what a cash buyer looks for in them. It describes the process; it does not tell you how to run your case. The estate's attorney prepares and files these documents, and the court decides what it needs.

Which letters do you have?

The Judicial Council's Letters form (DE-150) is one page with four possible titles. Which box is checked tells a buyer who you are in the case.

LettersWho receives themWhat it means for the sale

Testamentary

The executor named in the will, once the will is proved

Authority to sell depends on item 3 of the letters, and sometimes on what the will says about sales

Of administration with will annexed

An administrator appointed when there is a will but no executor who can serve

Same as above: read item 3

Of administration

An administrator appointed when there is no will, usually a spouse, domestic partner or close relative

Same as above: read item 3

Special administration

A temporary administrator with the powers listed in the order, and letters that may carry an expiration date

A sale needs powers the order may not grant; ask the attorney before signing anything

For a house sale, letters testamentary and letters of administration work the same way. The authority line, below, is what changes the sale.

What has to be on file before letters issue

Probate Code section 8400 says no one has the power to administer an estate until they are appointed and letters issue. Before that, a family member can arrange access and a walkthrough with the household's permission, but nobody can sign a purchase agreement for the estate. The usual sequence before letters:

1. The petition and the order for probate. The petition (DE-111) is filed in the county where the decedent lived, and notice of the hearing is published and mailed.
2. The duties statement. Section 8404 requires the representative to file a signed acknowledgment of the Duties and Liabilities of Personal Representative statement (DE-147). Some courts also require the confidential supplement, DE-147S, under local rule.
3. The affirmation. It is printed on the letters themselves: "I solemnly affirm that I will perform the duties of personal representative according to law."
4. The bond, or its waiver. Section 8480 requires a bond unless it is waived. A will can waive it, and so can all the beneficiaries in writing (section 8481), but the court keeps discretion.

Letters can also say, in item 4, that the representative may not take possession of money or other property without a specific court order. Courts use that line, for example, alongside a blocked account in place of a larger bond. A buyer's escrow needs to know it, because sale proceeds may have to go into that account rather than to the estate's checking account.

Does the bond change when the house sells?

It can. Section 8482 caps a bond at the value of the personal property plus the estate's probable yearly income, plus the real property's value only if independent administration covers the real property. A house sale turns real property into cash, which counts as personal property. Before confirming a sale, the court requires whatever additional bond is proper, treating the expected proceeds as personal property.

The report of sale form (DE-260) has a section for exactly this: the bond before the sale, the additional amount needed, or a statement that the proceeds will go into a blocked account. If additional bond is needed, it has to be in place before the order confirming the sale can be acted on. The buyer's escrow waits for it, on the court's calendar.

The one line that decides the sale track

Item 3 of the letters says whether the representative may administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act, and whether that authority is full or limited. Section 10403 explains limited authority: there is no authority, without court supervision, to sell or exchange real property, grant an option to buy it, or borrow against it.

• Full authority: the sale can go forward on a notice of proposed action, with no confirmation hearing and no overbid, unless someone objects.
• Limited authority, or no independent administration: the sale is reported to the court and confirmed at a hearing where other buyers can overbid.

The two tracks are compared in the pillar on probate sales in California and cash that holds, and the rest of the topic is collected in the probate sales knowledge center.

Papers for a full-authority sale

On this track the main document is the Notice of Proposed Action (DE-165). Under section 10585 it states the material terms, including the sale price and how any agent's commission is calculated, and the form also shows the house's value in the probate inventory, or says there is no inventory yet. It must be delivered at least 15 days before the date it names (section 10586) to the people section 10581 lists.

The form carries its own warning: a sale without court supervision "will NOT be presented to the court for confirmation at a hearing at which higher bids for the property may be presented." If an heir objects in writing before that date, section 10589 means the representative may go ahead only under court supervision, and the sale moves to the confirmation track. How often that happens, and why, is in notice of proposed action and the sales that skip the hearing.

Papers for a confirmation sale

Without full authority, the paper trail is longer, and most of it lands on one form. The Report of Sale and Petition for Order Confirming Sale of Real Property (DE-260) asks for:

• the purchaser's name and how title will be vested;
• the amount bid, the deposit, and whether payment is cash or credit;
• whether the purchaser is the personal representative or the representative's attorney;
• the appraised value, and a reappraisal if more than a year will have passed before the hearing (section 10309 sets the one-year window and the 90 percent floor);
• the commission, and who procured the buyer;
• the bond, as above;
• how notice of sale was given, usually by publication under section 10300;
• the reason for the sale and the efforts made to get the highest price reasonably attainable;
• the minimum first overbid, worked out on the form under section 10311.

After the hearing, the court signs an order confirming the sale. Under section 10314 the representative then conveys the house, and a certified copy of the order is recorded with the county recorder, as section 7263 provides. What the floor does to a price is in the 90 percent rule and the referee's appraisal.

What escrow and title commonly ask for

Each title company sets its own requirements, so ask the escrow officer for the list early. The items that come up on most estate files:

• A recently certified copy of the letters. The clerk's certification on DE-150 states that the letters "have not been revoked, annulled, or set aside, and are still in full force and effect." Title wants that statement to be current, not the copy from the day of appointment.
• The case number and the authority line, so title can see which track applies.
• The DE-165 and proof of delivery, or the certified order confirming sale.
• The deed signed by the representative in that capacity.
• The change of ownership statement. DE-147 tells the representative to file one with the county recorder or assessor in each county where the decedent owned real property, at the time the inventory is filed. In Los Angeles County that is the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk for recording; in San Bernardino County it is the Assessor-Recorder-County Clerk.

What a cash buyer should hand back

The paper runs both ways. The buyer's details go into the court file, so the buyer's documents matter too:

• dated proof of funds in the name of the entity that will take title (see how to verify proof of funds from a cash buyer);
• the exact vesting, because DE-260 asks for it and an assignment later changes it;
• a deposit held by an independent escrow company;
• written terms that keep the offer open through the hearing and any continuance.

The questions attorneys put to buyers on these points are collected in questions probate attorneys ask cash buyers.

What this looks like in practice

These are the kinds of files that come in, described without names or figures.

• An administrator with limited authority on a Rancho Cucamonga house inside a community facilities district. The special tax shows on the title report, any arrears are paid through escrow, and the confirmation papers and the tax line have to agree on the net.
• An executor with full authority on a Claremont house who wants the notice of proposed action to show a written price with its comps and deductions attached, so the heirs who receive it can see where the number came from.
• A special administrator whose letters carry an expiration date. The walkthrough and both numbers can be done now; signing waits until the attorney confirms the powers cover a sale.

When listing serves the estate better

Paper does not decide the price. If the representative has full authority, the heirs agree and the house would finance easily, an open-market sale can net the estate more than a cash offer, and the paperwork above is no heavier for a listing. Each estate file gets two numbers for that reason: the as-is cash offer and an open-market read, which is a preliminary estimate, not an appraisal. When listing nets more, the written recommendation says so and introduces a designated local expert. To have both numbers prepared alongside your letters, see how probate sale offers are written for the court's file or call (909) 498-3977. There is no cost and no obligation to get the two numbers and the written report.

Sources

• Judicial Council of California, form DE-150, Letters (Probate): courts.ca.gov, accessed November 6, 2026
• Judicial Council of California, form DE-147, Duties and Liabilities of Personal Representative: courts.ca.gov, accessed November 6, 2026
• Judicial Council of California, form DE-165, Notice of Proposed Action: courts.ca.gov, accessed November 6, 2026
• Judicial Council of California, form DE-260, Report of Sale and Petition for Order Confirming Sale of Real Property: courts.ca.gov, accessed November 6, 2026
• Judicial Branch of California, formal probate self-help guide: selfhelp.courts.ca.gov, accessed November 6, 2026
• California Probate Code section 8400 (no power to administer until appointed and letters issue): leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, accessed November 6, 2026
• California Probate Code section 8404 (statement of duties and liabilities): leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, accessed November 6, 2026
• California Probate Code sections 8480 and 8481 (bond required; waiver): leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, accessed November 6, 2026
• California Probate Code section 8482 (amount of bond; additional bond on a sale of real property): leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, accessed November 6, 2026
• California Probate Code section 10403 (limited authority): leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, accessed November 6, 2026
• California Probate Code sections 10581, 10585, 10586 and 10589 (notice of proposed action): leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, accessed November 6, 2026
• California Probate Code sections 10300, 10308, 10309 and 10311 (notice of sale, confirmation, appraisal, overbid): leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, accessed November 6, 2026
• California Probate Code sections 10314 and 7263 (conveyance; recording the order): leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, accessed November 6, 2026
• Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, property document recording: lavote.gov, accessed November 6, 2026
• San Bernardino County Assessor-Recorder-County Clerk, document recording: arc.sbcounty.gov, accessed November 6, 2026

Mr. Cali Offers is not a law firm; the estate's attorney prepares and files the papers described here. Cash offers come from independent buyers and investors who buy for their own account and may resell for profit; a cash offer is generally below what the open market would bring. Any value shown is a preliminary estimate, not an appraisal. Nothing here is legal, tax or financial advice.