Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

It depends what is being inherited, and who has possession. If the estate is worth under $100,000, after 45 days you can demand that banks and others who hold estate property surrender it to you when you provide a copy of the death certificate and a written demand pursuant to the Probate Code provisions for small estates.

If it is real property (house, farm, etc.), you might have to open probate with the court in the county where the property is located or where the decedent last lived.