Which Superior Court Handles Your County's Probate

A California probate case belongs in the superior court of the county where the person who died was domiciled, wherever the death happened, under Probate Code section 7051; if the person lived outside California, it goes to a county where they owned property. Inside each county, the court sends probate to particular courthouses: in Los Angeles County that is the Stanley Mosk Courthouse downtown, in Orange County the Costa Mesa Justice Complex, in San Bernardino County the Fontana or Victorville courthouse depending on the ZIP code, in San Diego County the Central Courthouse, and in Ventura County the Juvenile and Probate Courthouse in Oxnard. Riverside County's probate page could not be opened for this article, so confirm that county's courthouse with the court directly.

This matters for a house sale because the courthouse is where a confirmation hearing is held, where overbidders appear, and whose local rules set deposits and commission limits. It is general information from each court's own pages; the estate's attorney files the case and knows the current department assignments.

Which county's court takes the case?

The Probate Code answers this before any courthouse does:

• The decedent lived in California. Section 7051 makes the proper county the one where the decedent was domiciled at death, "regardless of where the decedent died." A Claremont resident who died in a hospital in another county is still a Los Angeles County case.
• The decedent lived out of state. Section 7052 points to the county where the decedent died if property is there, and otherwise to any county where the decedent's property is located. If there is property in several counties, the county where a petition is first filed takes the estate.
• The court has jurisdiction. Section 7050 gives the superior court jurisdiction over proceedings concerning the administration of a decedent's estate.

The Judicial Branch's formal probate guide puts it the same way: file in the county where the person who died lived, or, for someone who lived outside California, in a California county where they owned property.

Domicile follows the county line, not the mailing address. A house with an Upland address in San Antonio Heights is unincorporated San Bernardino County, and Claremont and Pomona are Los Angeles County cities even though they sit at the San Bernardino County line.

Where each county hears probate

CountyWhere decedents' estates are heardWhere that comes from

Los Angeles

Stanley Mosk Courthouse, downtown Los Angeles; Antelope Valley filings are heard there too

Local Rule 4.3 and the court's February 2026 notice

Orange

Costa Mesa Justice Complex

The court's probate and probate hearings pages

Riverside

Not confirmed for this article

The court's site refused an automated read

San Bernardino

Fontana Courthouse or the Victorville District, by ZIP code

General Order GO26-032

San Diego

Central Courthouse, downtown San Diego

Local Rule 4.1.2 and the probate business office page

Ventura

Juvenile and Probate Courthouse, Oxnard

The court's probate page

Los Angeles County

Local Rule 4.3(a) says that, with the exception of the North District, all probate matters are filed and heard in the Central District at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse; the court's notice and case-lookup page give its address as 111 North Hill Street. The court's notice of February 18, 2026 changed the exception: since February 2, 2026 the Michael D. Antonovich Antelope Valley Courthouse in Lancaster still accepts probate filings, but no longer hears probate matters in person. Those cases sit in a department called AVPR and are heard by Department 18 at Stanley Mosk on Thursdays and Fridays, with remote appearance options. The court's probate case-lookup page lists clerk's offices at both courthouses. For a house in Claremont, Pomona, La Verne, San Dimas or Glendora, the hearing is downtown.

Orange County

The court's probate page says the Probate/Mental Health clerk's office and courtrooms are at the Costa Mesa Justice Complex, and its hearings page gives the address as 3390 Harbor Boulevard, Costa Mesa. The courtroom schedule lists decedent estates on departments CM06 and CM08, and the hearings page notes that some decedent estate hearings moved from CM07 to CM06 effective July 6, 2026. Department assignments change, so check the schedule page against the hearing notice.

Riverside County

The Riverside court's website did not open for us when this article was prepared, so it does not name a Riverside courthouse. The case is still filed in the Superior Court of California, County of Riverside, under section 7051. Which courthouse hears it, and which department, should come from the court's own probate page or from the estate's attorney.

San Bernardino County

The court's probate page says decedents' estates are filed and heard at the Fontana and Victorville districts, and its General Order GO26-032, effective January 1, 2026 through December 31, 2027, assigns them by ZIP code:

• Fontana Courthouse, 17780 Arrowhead Boulevard, Fontana. The valley and mountain communities, including Upland, Rancho Cucamonga, Ontario, Chino, Chino Hills, Montclair, San Bernardino, Redlands and Yucaipa.
• Victorville District, 14455 Civic Drive, Victorville. The High Desert, including Victorville, Hesperia, Apple Valley, Adelanto, Barstow, Phelan and the Big Bear communities.
• Needles Courthouse. Only certain simpler petitions for its own area, such as the affidavit for real property of small value and the petition to determine succession to real property; other probate matters from that area go to Victorville.

One detail in the order is worth knowing: it lists "Parts of Pomona" under ZIP 91766 on the Fontana list. Pomona itself is a Los Angeles County city, so a 91766 address does not by itself make a case San Bernardino County's. The county the house sits in, and where the decedent was domiciled, decide that.

San Diego County

Local Rule 4.1.2 says the East, North and South County divisions are included in the Central Division for all probate cases. Documents are filed at the Central Courthouse, 1100 Union Street, with a drop box at the North County Division in Vista, and the probate business office page lists the probate departments under the Central Courthouse. Attorneys must e-file.

Ventura County

The court's probate page says: "All probate matters are filed and heard at the Juvenile and Probate Courthouse in Oxnard," with hearings typically set in Courtroom J6.

What the courthouse changes for a house sale

If the representative has full authority under the Independent Administration of Estates Act, the house can often sell on a notice of proposed action with no hearing at all, and the courthouse matters mostly for filings. If the sale needs confirmation, the courthouse decides three practical things:

1. Where the hearing and any overbidding happen. Overbidders appear in that department, in person or by the court's remote system. San Diego's rule 4.13.12 requires a remote overbidder to be able to send the increased-bid form to the clerk before the hearing ends.
2. Which local rules apply. Deposits, the overbid form and the commission limits differ by county. They are compared in probate deposits and where they go and how the court treats commissions in probate sales.
3. Whose calendar sets the timing. A hearing date comes from that court's calendar and can be continued, so a buyer's offer has to be written to hold until then. The whole sequence is in the pillar on court confirmation, overbid and cash that holds.

The courthouse does not change the value. Inventory values in a probate case are usually set by the probate referee the court appoints. A separate date-of-death appraisal, when the estate or its tax adviser wants one, is done by licensed appraisers, such as those at Mr. Cali Appraisals, a separate appraisal practice that shares the Mr. Cali name.

What this looks like in practice

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

• A Rancho Cucamonga house in Alta Loma whose owner lived there until death. The case is in San Bernardino County and, under the general order, at the Fontana Courthouse, so the attorney works from that court's local rules on deposits and commissions.
• A Victorville house owned by a parent who lived in Claremont. The domicile was Los Angeles County, so the case is at Stanley Mosk even though the house is in the High Desert. The house is sold from a Los Angeles County case.
• An out-of-state executor whose parent lived in Orange County. The hearings are in Costa Mesa, and the executor appears by video while the walkthrough and both numbers are handled locally.

When listing serves the estate better

Which courthouse hears the case does not decide the route. A house in good condition that would draw owner-occupants and finance easily can net the estate more on the open market, especially when the representative has full authority and no hearing is needed. Each estate file gets two numbers: the as-is cash offer from independent buyers 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. More on the topic is in the probate sales knowledge center; to have both numbers prepared for the court's file, see how probate sale offers are written for the hearing or call (909) 498-3977. There is no cost and no obligation to get the two numbers and the written report.

Sources

• California Probate Code sections 7050, 7051 and 7052 (jurisdiction and venue), copies read on california.public.law, accessed November 6, 2026
• Judicial Branch of California, formal probate self-help guide: selfhelp.courts.ca.gov, accessed November 6, 2026
• Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, Local Rules Chapter Four (Probate), rule 4.3: lacourt.ca.gov, accessed November 6, 2026
• Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, notice on probate operations at the Antelope Valley Courthouse (February 18, 2026): lacourt.org, accessed November 6, 2026
• Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, "Where do I check if a Probate action has been filed?": lacourt.org, accessed November 6, 2026
• Superior Court of California, County of Orange, Probate: occourts.org, accessed November 6, 2026
• Superior Court of California, County of Orange, Probate Hearings and Probate Courtroom Schedule and Requirements: occourts.org and occourts.org, accessed November 6, 2026
• Superior Court of California, County of San Bernardino, Probate: sanbernardino.courts.ca.gov, accessed November 6, 2026
• Superior Court of California, County of San Bernardino, General Order GO26-032, Where Probate Cases Are Filed and Heard: sanbernardino.courts.ca.gov, accessed November 6, 2026
• Superior Court of California, County of San Diego, Local Rules Division IV (Probate), rules 4.1.2 and 4.13.12: sdcourt.ca.gov, accessed November 6, 2026
• Superior Court of California, County of San Diego, Probate Business Office: sdcourt.ca.gov, accessed November 6, 2026
• Superior Court of California, County of Ventura, Probate: ventura.courts.ca.gov, accessed November 6, 2026

Mr. Cali Offers is not a law firm; the estate's attorney files the case and confirms the courthouse and department. 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.