The California Homestead After a Death

One word, three protections

In California “homestead” means different things: the homestead exemption that protects equity in a principal dwelling from many money judgments (Code Civ. Proc. §704.710 and following), the probate homestead a court may set apart for a surviving spouse and minor children during an administration (Prob. Code §§6520–6521), and the property-tax rules that apply when the home changes hands. Each follows its own rules — and after a death, all of them can matter at once.

Who gets the home

In California the home passes like the decedent's other property — under the will or the trust, or by intestate succession — and the surviving spouse's half of community property is the spouse's own (Prob. Code §100):

• The surviving spouse's own half of the community property is theirs already (Prob. Code §100); only the decedent's half passes at the death.
• Without a will or a trust that disposes of it, the decedent's half of the community property goes to the surviving spouse, and separate property is shared as §6401(c) sets out.
• During a probate, a court may set apart a probate homestead for the surviving spouse and minor children for a limited period — never beyond the spouse's lifetime or a child's minority — while the property remains subject to administration and succession (Prob. Code §§6521, 6524).

Can the home be left by will or by trust? Yes

California places no restriction on devising a home: the owner may leave it by will or by trust to anyone, though only the owner's half of community property is the owner's to leave (Prob. Code §100). In a probate administration, a court may set apart one probate homestead (Prob. Code §6520).

Creditors and the inherited homestead

The homestead exemption protects a debtor's equity in a dwelling from the enforcement of many money judgments (Code Civ. Proc. §§704.710, 704.730); after a death, the trust's property answers for the decedent's debts to the extent the probate estate cannot pay them (Prob. Code §19001), and a mortgage on the home still applies. Whether a particular recipient and property are protected is fact-specific attorney territory.

Property taxes: reassessment and Proposition 19

A transfer of the home at death can be a change in ownership that reassesses it. The trustee files a change in ownership statement within 150 days of the death (Rev. & Tax. Code §480(b)), and since Proposition 19 a parent–child transfer escapes reassessment only for a family home or family farm, within a value limit and, for a home, used as the child's principal residence (Cal. Const. art. XIII A, §2.1; Rev. & Tax. Code §63.2). The county assessor and a California attorney can confirm what applies.

What should happen next?

Homestead outcomes turn on facts: who survived, how the deed reads, whether the home was community or separate property, whether minors are involved, and the 150-day ownership statement. This page is general information, not legal advice. A free role check shows you where you stand, and a California attorney can confirm how the home passes in your situation.

General information about California law, not legal advice.