California Probate Code 8200 gives the person holding a deceased individual’s original will 30 days from learning of the death to deliver that will to the clerk of the superior court and to send a copy to the named executor. Miss the deadline and you are personally on the hook for any damages your delay causes.1California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 8200
Who the Statute Applies To
Section 8200 speaks to the “custodian” of the will. That simply means whoever has physical possession of the original document when they find out the person who signed it has died. A spouse, an adult child, a friend, the drafting attorney, a safe-deposit co-signer: if the will is in your hands, the duty is yours.
The 30-day clock starts the moment you learn of the death, not the date of death itself. If you were out of contact and only heard a week later, you have 30 days from that point.
One situation lets you off the hook. If someone has already filed a petition to probate the will with the court, the custodian’s separate delivery obligation does not apply. The document is already in the court’s hands through another route, so a second filing serves no purpose.1California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 8200
Where to File the Original
The original will goes to the clerk of the superior court in the county where the estate may be administered. Under Probate Code 7051, that is the county where the deceased person was domiciled at death, no matter where the death itself occurred.2California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 7051 If you are not sure, start with the county where the person kept their permanent home.
You have two acceptable methods for the original: hand delivery to the clerk, or registered or certified mail.1California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 8200 Plain first-class mail does not satisfy the statute. The certified or registered option matters because it generates a receipt proving the document was sent and received, which is the evidence you want if someone later claims you dropped the ball.
Expect a filing fee at the counter. If a probate case is eventually opened for the estate, the fee can be reimbursed as an administration expense.1California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 8200
Sending a Copy to the Executor
The second half of your duty is sending a copy of the will to the person named in it as executor, if you know how to reach them. If you do not, send the copy to a named beneficiary whose address you do have.1California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 8200
Delivery of this copy follows Probate Code 1215, which is more flexible than the rules for the original. You can use first-class mail to a U.S. address, international mail abroad, or hand delivery. Electronic delivery is also allowed under Section 1215, but only when the recipient has formally consented on the appropriate court form.3California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 1215
What Delivery Does and Does Not Do
Handing the will to the clerk does not open probate. The clerk simply holds the document. A copy can later be released once someone pays the required fee and provides either a court order or a certified copy of the death certificate.1California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 8200
This is where families get confused. Delivering the will is a safekeeping step, not estate administration. Someone still has to file a probate petition. Under Probate Code 8000, any interested person can file that petition after the death, asking the court to appoint a personal representative, admit the will to probate, or both.4California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 8000
If you were named executor and you are also the custodian, the two duties run on parallel tracks. Section 8001 provides that an executor who fails to petition within 30 days of learning of the death and the nomination may be treated as having waived the right to serve, unless good cause is shown.5California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 8001 Same clock, different obligation.
What Happens If You Miss the Deadline
Section 8200 does not set a fixed fine or criminal penalty. The enforcement tool is civil liability. A custodian who fails to deliver the will is personally liable for all damages sustained by anyone injured by the failure.1California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 8200
“All damages” is a broad standard. Think about what a delay can trigger: a personal representative cannot be appointed, bank accounts stay frozen, bills and creditors are not addressed, interest and penalties accrue, property sits unmanaged, and beneficiaries wait for distributions they are owed. Each of those downstream losses is the kind of harm an injured party can trace back to a will that sat in someone’s drawer. If a beneficiary can show real financial injury caused by your delay, you could owe it out of your own pocket.
If the Original Will Cannot Be Found
Section 8200 assumes you have the original. If the original is missing, California still allows probate of a lost or destroyed will under Probate Code 8223, but the petition has to include a written statement of the will’s provisions or their substance, and the court has to be satisfied the will existed and that its contents are proven.6California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 8223 Probate Code 8000 expressly permits filing a petition whether the will is in the petitioner’s possession, lost, destroyed, or outside California.4California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 8000
The real obstacle is the presumption of revocation. When the original was last known to be in the deceased person’s possession and cannot be found, courts generally presume the person destroyed it intending to revoke it. Overcoming that presumption takes evidence: proof of accidental destruction, or testimony that the deceased referred to the will as still in effect shortly before death. Families who suspect a will existed should gather this kind of evidence quickly, while memories are fresh and papers have not been thrown away.