California Form DE-147: Filing, Signing, and Deadlines for Personal Representatives

California Form DE-147 is the Duties and Liabilities of Personal Representative acknowledgment: a one-page form that every executor named in a will and every court-appointed administrator signs to confirm they have read and understood the legal obligations of managing a deceased person’s estate. You file it with your probate petition, and the court will not issue Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration — the documents that give you authority to act — until it is on file.1California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 8404 – Appointment of Personal Representative

Who Has to File It

Anyone petitioning to serve as personal representative of a California estate must file DE-147 before the court will grant them authority. “Personal representative” covers both an executor named in a will and an administrator appointed when there is no will.2California Courts. Duties and Liabilities of Personal Representative (DE-147)

Two categories are exempt: trust companies and public administrators. If either is handling the estate, DE-147 is not required.1California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 8404 – Appointment of Personal Representative

Separately, California Probate Code Section 8402 disqualifies certain people from serving at all: minors, anyone subject to a conservatorship of the estate or otherwise unfit, and non-residents of the United States. A surviving business partner of the decedent can be blocked if an interested person objects. The residency and business-partner restrictions do not apply when the decedent’s will names that person as executor.3California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 8402

Where to Get the Form

DE-147 is a free PDF from the California Courts website. Download it at courts.ca.gov or through the self-help portal at selfhelp.courts.ca.gov.2California Courts. Duties and Liabilities of Personal Representative (DE-147) You can fill it in on screen before printing or print and complete it by hand.

How to Fill It Out

The top of the form is standard case caption information: the decedent’s name, the probate case number, and the name and address of the attorney, or of the person filing if there is no attorney. If you are submitting DE-147 with the initial probate petition and do not yet have a case number, leave that field blank. The clerk will assign one when the petition is filed.4California Courts. DE-147 Duties and Liabilities of Personal Representative

The body of the form is not something you write in. It is a printed statement of the duties and liabilities the law imposes on you, and your signature at the bottom acknowledges that you have received a copy and understand them. Read the back of the form before you sign. The obligations summarized there are the ones the court will hold you to.

The Confidential Supplement (DE-147S)

Some counties require a companion form, DE-147S, the Confidential Supplement to Duties and Liabilities of Personal Representative. It is not universally required statewide, so check with the probate clerk in your county before filing.5California Courts. DE-147S Confidential Supplement to Duties and Liabilities of Personal Representative

The supplement asks for three things: your full name, your date of birth, and your driver’s license number with issuing state. It does not ask for your Social Security number.6California Courts. Confidential Supplement to Duties and Liabilities of Personal Representative It is kept in a confidential court file so your personal information is not visible in the public record. Do not attach DE-147S to DE-147. Submit them as separate documents.5California Courts. DE-147S Confidential Supplement to Duties and Liabilities of Personal Representative

What You’re Agreeing To

The printed duties on DE-147 are the ground rules for the job. Read them carefully. The main obligations are these:

Keep estate assets separate. You must take possession of estate property and keep it completely apart from your own finances. The standard step is opening a dedicated estate bank account. Mixing estate funds with personal funds, even briefly, can make you personally liable for losses and can lead the court to remove you. For actions outside the ordinary course, such as selling real estate or making non-routine investments, you need prior court approval or must give formal notice to interested parties.

File the inventory and appraisal. Within four months after your Letters are issued, you must file Form DE-160 listing all estate property with the court. A court-appointed probate referee values most assets other than cash. The court can extend the deadline for good cause.7Justia. California Probate Code 8800-8804 – General Provisions

Notify creditors and pay valid debts. You must notify known creditors within four months after Letters are issued, or within 30 days of learning about a creditor, whichever is later. Creditors then generally have four months from the date Letters were issued, or 60 days from when they received your notice (whichever is later), to file claims.8Justia. California Probate Code 9050-9054 – Notice to Creditors You also publish a general notice of administration in a newspaper. Valid claims are paid from estate funds.

Handle the tax filings. You are responsible for the decedent’s final personal income tax return and, if the estate generates income during administration, a federal estate income tax return on Form 1041. File IRS Form 56 to notify the IRS that you are acting as fiduciary so tax correspondence about the decedent is directed to you.9Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 56

Post a bond, unless it is waived. A bond protects beneficiaries and creditors if you mishandle assets, and the amount is generally set based on estimated estate value.10California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 8480 A bond is not required if the will explicitly waives it or if all beneficiaries waive it in writing and those waivers are attached to the petition. Even with a waiver, the court can require one for good cause.11Justia. California Probate Code 8480-8488 – Bond Without a required bond, Letters will not issue.

The consequences of getting these wrong are real. A court can order a surcharge — a personal payment out of your own pocket for losses to the estate — for things like neglecting insurance on estate property, commingling funds, missing tax deadlines, or making unauthorized distributions. In serious cases, the court can remove you.

Filing It With the Court

Submit the signed DE-147 (and DE-147S, if your county requires it) to the probate clerk in the county where the case is pending. In almost every case, DE-147 is filed as part of the initial probate petition package rather than on its own. The filing fee for a new probate petition is typically $435, and DE-147 itself carries no separate fee.12California Courts. If You Need Formal Probate If you cannot afford the fee, you can apply for a fee waiver based on financial hardship.

If the petition is already on file and you are submitting DE-147 later to complete the record before your hearing, bring it to the probate clerk and reference your existing case number. The clerk will stamp it into the case.

What Happens After You File

When you file the petition package, the clerk stamps your forms and assigns a hearing date and courtroom. At the hearing, the judge reviews the petition, confirms proper notice was given, and, if everything is in order, appoints you as personal representative.12California Courts. If You Need Formal Probate Plan to attend in case there are questions, though many uncontested hearings are brief.

After appointment, the clerk issues your Letters Testamentary if there is a will, or Letters of Administration if there is not. Banks, title companies, brokerage firms, and government agencies will want to see these before dealing with you on behalf of the estate. Without the acknowledgment DE-147 provides, the court will not authorize the Letters. Order multiple certified copies; institutions often require originals and some keep them on file. Certified copies typically cost around $25 each, though the exact amount varies by county.

The Clocks That Start Running

Once your Letters are issued, several deadlines begin at the same time:

Missing these deadlines does not automatically end your appointment, but it gives interested parties grounds to petition for your removal or seek a surcharge for any losses that result. The duties you acknowledged on DE-147 are the same duties the court will measure you against from that point on.