How Probate Works in Madera County When the Estate Includes a House

The Civil Division at 200 South G Street

Because California probates a resident's estate in the county where the person was domiciled, wherever the death happened, a Madera County resident's estate comes before the Superior Court in Madera. The court's Probate Department is in the Civil Division at the Main Courthouse, 200 South "G" Street. Normal window hours run from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., a drop box takes filings from 3 to 4 p.m., and filing questions go to the Civil Division, whose contact details are on the court's probate page.

That department takes petitions for probate, guardianship and conservatorship, petitions to terminate joint tenancy, and affidavits for real property of small value. Under Local Rule 1.3.6, decedents' estates belong to the court's Probate-Civil Division. The courtroom assignments effective August 3, 2026 send Civil Division cases other than family law, child support and criminal matters to Department 44 when the case number ends in an even digit and to Department 45 when it ends in an odd one, and every department sits at the Main Courthouse. A hearing notice tells the people it goes to where and when that petition will be heard.

Ex parte matters are heard in Department 37, 40, 44 or 45, Monday through Friday at 8:15 a.m., and the probate page says the papers, together with the 24-hour notice or a no-notice declaration, are due no later than 10:00 a.m. prior to the court date. A California probate attorney can say which courtroom and calendar a particular petition lands on.

No Examiner, No Routine Tentatives, and a Four-Court-Day Deadline

Madera Superior Court does not have a probate examiner on staff. For tentative calendar dates, the court refers people to the Civil Division between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m., and its posted calendars are updated each day at about 4 p.m. The court's tentative-ruling rule, Local Rule 3.3.6, sits in the civil law-and-motion chapter and says the court does not routinely issue tentative rulings in advance of the hearing date.

On timing, two of the court's own sources disagree. Local Rule 7.1.7 requires all papers relating to a probate hearing, including the moving party's proposed order, to be filed or lodged with the clerk at least four court days before the hearing, with temporary guardianship petitions excepted. The probate web page, by contrast, still says all documents are to be filed two days prior to the court date. This guide follows the local rule, and a probate attorney can confirm the deadline for a specific hearing.

E-Filing, Division 7 Rules and Forms

Madera accepts e-filing in probate cases from attorneys and self-represented litigants, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, through an approved electronic filing service provider. E-filing is not mandatory at this time, and the court names Journal Technologies (JTI) as its e-filing manager provider.

The probate rules are Division 7, Probate, Adoption and Related Matters, of the local rules effective January 1, 2026, a version that was not amended and remains in effect as of July 1, 2026. Rule 7.3.2 requires every petition to sell or encumber estate property to be accompanied by a declaration under oath that the property is not specifically devised. Rule 7.1.8 requires the attorney for a represented petitioner to appear on a petition to confirm a sale of real property.

For forms, the probate page points to the California Courts website, home of the statewide Judicial Council forms. The court's local forms list includes probate-related guardianship forms, such as MAD-CIV-015, Petition for Visitation (Probate), but none labeled for decedents' estates. A California probate attorney can say which statewide forms a Madera petition needs.

Recording Court Orders and Deeds in Madera County

Probate Code section 7263 makes the personal representative responsible for recording a certified copy of an order confirming a sale of real property, distributing it, setting apart a probate homestead or deciding another question of title, in each county where any portion of the property lies. A small-value real property affidavit takes a similar path: once the court certifies it, the certified copy is recorded with the recorder of the county where the property is located.

Madera County accepts documents for recording Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m., and by mail to the Madera County Recorder, 200 W. 4th Street, Madera, CA 93637. On May 1, 2025 the Recorder moved into a new office next to the County Clerk-Elections office within the Government Center. Signatures must be original unless the document is a certified copy issued by the appropriate custodian of the public record.

When a recorded document changes ownership of real property, it needs a completed Preliminary Change of Ownership Report, and the fee schedule authorizes a $20 flat fee when one is missing. Conveyance documents such as deeds must carry the assessor's parcel number under Madera County Code 3.12.130, and recording fees, including any documentary transfer tax, are submitted with the document.

The county's documentary transfer tax is $0.55 per $500, or $1.10 per $1,000, figured on the sales price, fair market value or consideration listed on the PCOR. A tax declaration must be completed on all conveyance documents, and the Recorder posts a list of transfer tax exemptions. A probate attorney or the escrow officer on a sale can say which documents a particular transfer calls for.

The Change in Ownership Statement and the Madera County Assessor

When a probate estate owns California real estate, state law makes the personal representative file a change in ownership statement with the county recorder or assessor in each county where the person owned real property, no later than the filing of the inventory and appraisal, and certify that filing to the court. When property passes at death outside probate, as through a trust, the statement is due within 150 days after the date of death instead.

The Madera County Assessor's office is at 200 W. 4th Street in Madera, and its contact details are on the county's Assessor page. How a change in ownership affects the tax bill on a particular inheritance is a question for a tax professional or a California probate attorney.

Selling an Inherited Madera County House Through Probate

Here is the usual sequence, with Madera's local rules marked where they come in. A California probate attorney can say how it maps onto a particular estate.

• 1. The original will. Whoever holds the original must get it to the superior court clerk in the county where the estate may be administered within 30 days after learning of the death.
• 2. How title was held. Property in a living trust or held in joint tenancy may pass outside probate court, and for deaths on or after April 1, 2025, a California primary residence with a gross value of $750,000 or less can be transferred by court petition once 40 days have passed; Madera's probate department also hears petitions to terminate joint tenancy. A California probate attorney can say whether any of these applies.
• 3. The petition. A Petition for Probate (form DE-111), with a typical filing fee of $435 according to the state self-help guide, goes to the Civil Division at the window, through the drop box or by e-filing.
• 4. Notice and the four-court-day deadline. The hearing is usually set 15 to 30 days after filing (30 to 45 days if the petitioner asks when filing), notice goes to heirs and named beneficiaries at least 15 days before it and is published in a local newspaper, and every hearing paper, proposed order included, is due four court days ahead under Rule 7.1.7.
• 5. Letters. The appointment takes effect only when letters issue; before then, no one has power to administer the estate.
• 6. Inventory and appraisal. Within four months after letters, a probate referee appraises the house for the inventory, and the change in ownership statement is due by the time that inventory is filed.
• 7. The creditor period. Known creditors get notice of administration and can file claims until the later of four months after letters or 60 days after their notice.
• 8. The sale. With full IAEA authority, the representative delivers a Notice of Proposed Action at least 15 days before the sale and proceeds if no one objects in writing; with only limited authority, or after an objection, the sale goes through court supervision. For a court sale in Madera, Rule 7.1.8 has the represented petitioner's attorney appear at the confirmation hearing, and the price has to reach 90 percent of an appraisal made within the past year, with overbids allowed.
• 9. Recording. After closing, the deed with its PCOR and tax declaration, and a certified copy of any confirmation order, are recorded at the Madera County Recorder.
• 10. Closing the estate. A petition for final distribution or a status report is due within a year after letters, or 18 months if a federal estate tax return is required, and a judge rules on distribution at a final hearing.

This is general information about how the process works, not legal or tax advice. Every situation is different — talk with a California attorney (and a tax professional) about yours.

Madera County Communities

Our homepage lists Madera, Chowchilla, Madera Ranchos and Oakhurst among the Madera County places we buy houses. For a resident of any of them, probate runs through the same courthouse on South G Street.

If the Family Sells the House to Us

Take what you want to keep and leave the rest; we'll handle the cleanout and the repairs after closing. There are no agent commissions and no fees to work with us, and we pay the standard closing costs. If the sale needs court confirmation, our offer is held to the same 90 percent rule as any other and can be overbid at the hearing.