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Form DE-121 Guide: Notice of Petition to Administer Estate

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What is Form DE-121?

Form DE-121 is California’s Notice of Petition to Administer Estate. It tells people that a Petition for Probate has been filed, what it asks the court to do, and when and where the hearing will take place.

The notice gives people an opportunity to learn about the request and respond. It is not the petition itself, an order approving the petition, or proof that someone has already been appointed to administer the estate.

The usual sequence is: DE-111 asks the court to act → DE-121 gives notice of the petition and hearing → required individual notice and newspaper publication are completed and proved → the court considers the petition. Sending or publishing the notice does not itself give anyone authority over estate property.

This guide follows both pages of DE-121: the ten numbered notice items on page 1 and the Proof of Service by Mail on page 2. It also explains the parts that take more thought than filling in a name: who receives notice, timing, publication, and proof.

Form version: DE-121, revised January 1, 2013, two pages. Verified against the current California Courts listing and official form on October 4, 2026. Get the current official DE-121 and keep it beside you.

FormExplainer provides general informational guidance about legal and government forms. It does not provide legal advice, assess individual circumstances, or create an attorney-client relationship. For advice about your situation, consult a qualified professional.

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Before You Start

When do I use DE-121, and how does it relate to DE-111?

Use DE-121 for notice of a petition to administer a decedent’s estate. The decedent is the person who died. The petitioner is the person asking the court to act. The personal representative is the person the court appoints to administer the estate; an executor or administrator is a particular type of personal representative.

DE-111 contains the request and supporting facts. DE-121 announces that request and its hearing. Use the filed petition and the court’s assigned hearing information to prepare an accurate notice. Our Form DE-111 guide explains the petition, appointment terminology, and what the court is being asked to decide.

This guide focuses on the ordinary petition opening a formal probate administration. Special administration, a successor appointment, or a later request in an existing case can have different notice requirements. Check the procedure for that particular request instead of assuming every use of DE-111 follows the same publication process.

What should I gather before completing DE-121?

Start with the filed petition, the hearing information, and a working recipient list. You will need:

  • The filed DE-111 and its attachments, the estate name, all names by which the decedent was known, and the assigned case number.
  • The superior court’s county, branch, addresses, and confirmed hearing date, time, department, and room.
  • The petitioner’s name and contact information, the proposed representative’s name, and the petition’s will and independent-administration requests.
  • The will and codicils, relevant family information, and names and current addresses for the people entitled to notice. A codicil changes or adds to a will.
  • Information about trusts, minors, deceased beneficiaries, representatives, or other circumstances that affect who receives notice.
  • The qualifying newspaper’s submission requirements, publication schedule, and arrangements for its proof of publication.
  • The court’s current probate instructions, local filing requirements, and any notice orders in the case.

These are preparation records, not a direction to mail or file your entire estate file. The recipients receive the notice and any additional documents required for their situation. The newspaper publishes the prescribed notice text. The court receives the notice and required proofs through its filing procedure. Private financial records do not belong in the notice packet merely because you used them when preparing DE-111.

What is the difference between DE-120 and DE-121?

DE-121 gives notice of the petition to administer an estate. DE-120 gives notice of applicable other estate or trust hearings, such as a hearing on an estate account or status report. Both mention a hearing, but they are not interchangeable.

DE-120, Notice of Hearing—Decedent’s Estate or Trust, asks for the title and description of the petition, application, report, or account being heard. Its page-1 instruction expressly says not to use it for a petition to administer an estate and directs the reader to DE-121.

DE-121 instead contains the prescribed opening-probate notice: the proposed representative, will and independent-administration requests, hearing information, and statements for creditors and other interested people. If you have been told to give notice of the opening Petition for Probate, do not substitute DE-120 just because its title sounds similar. Our Form DE-120 guide explains those other estate and trust hearing notices, including how the underlying request determines recipients, deadlines, service, and proof.

Who must receive DE-121?

The core list includes the decedent’s reasonably ascertainable heirs and the devisees, executors, and alternative executors named in any will being offered for probate. Probate Code section 8110 sets out those categories. Other provisions can add recipients or specify how a person must receive notice.

An heir is someone entitled to inherit under the laws that apply without a will. A devisee is someone designated to receive a gift under a will; “beneficiary” is the more familiar word. An executor named in the will is a proposed person to administer the estate, not necessarily someone receiving a gift.

Do both heirs and beneficiaries named in the will receive notice?

Yes, the opening-petition rule includes both categories. Having a will does not remove the requirement to notify heirs. Nor does being a relative automatically make someone a beneficiary under the will. Section 8110 includes heirs known to the petitioner or reasonably ascertainable by the petitioner, and each devisee, executor, and alternative executor named in a will being offered.

For example, suppose a will names a friend to receive a gift, while a child who qualifies as an heir receives no gift under that will. The friend’s notice is connected to the will; the child’s notice is connected to heirship. Mailing only to the people receiving gifts would miss a separate notice category.

The rule also covers a named gift or executor appointment even if a later instrument being offered purports to revoke it. Do not remove a person from the notice list simply because a codicil appears to replace that gift or nomination.

Can I just use the people listed on DE-111?

Use item 8 of DE-111 as a starting point, then check the notice rules. That item can list deceased people and people mentioned in the will in different roles. A deceased person cannot receive mail, and their death may create a need to notify someone else. Other rules can add an attorney, legal representative, trust beneficiary, or government official.

Conversely, section 1201 says the person required to give notice does not need to give it to themselves or to another person who joins in the petition. A family conversation or a relative’s informal agreement is not the same as joining the petition. Keep the reason for including or excluding each person clear.

When a family relationship or heirship is disputed, building the list requires more than copying names. This guide explains the notice categories; it does not decide who legally belongs in a contested family branch.

What other people or entities may need notice?

The basic heir-and-will list is important, but it is not the whole analysis. Review these situations before handing the mailing list to the server.

What if the will leaves property to a trust?

Notice to a trust or trustee does not automatically require notice to every trust beneficiary. Section 1208 adds beneficiary notice when the personal representative and trustee are the same person, or no trustee has been appointed, subject to its cotrustee exception.

In those situations, the rule looks first to people who could currently receive trust income or principal, whether payment would be required or within the trustee’s discretion, if the trust were in effect. If there are no such people, it looks to those who would receive a distribution if the trust ended when notice is required. The extra beneficiary notice is not required under that provision when there are multiple trustees and notice goes to a cotrustee who is not a personal representative. Read the trust and the statutory conditions together; “a trust is named” does not answer the entire question.

What if a recipient is a minor or has a legal representative?

  • Minor: Rule 7.51(d) requires notice directly to the minor and a separate copy to the person or persons with legal custody with whom the minor lives. Do not assume a single envelope addressed only to a parent covers both.
  • Guardian or conservator: notice goes to the appointed guardian or conservator, with a copy also going to the person under that appointment unless the court dispenses with it or the rule’s personal-service exception applies. The exception concerns personal service on a California-resident guardian or conservator of the estate under section 1210.
  • Attorney of record: section 1214 generally requires delivery to the recipient’s attorney as well as the recipient, unless a request for special notice specifies otherwise. Sending everything only to a lawyer is not automatically sufficient.

What if a beneficiary has died?

First distinguish a beneficiary who died after the decedent from one who died before the decedent or failed to survive for a period required by the will. Rule 7.51(e) treats those situations differently.

If the beneficiary died afterward and satisfied the will’s survival requirement, notice goes to that beneficiary’s personal representative. If none has been appointed, it goes to the beneficiaries or other people entitled to succeed to that interest.

If the beneficiary died first or did not satisfy the survival requirement, the rule first looks for substitute beneficiaries named in the will. Without a substitute gift, notice may involve the deceased beneficiary’s descendants under the statutory conditions, the people receiving the remainder of the estate, or the decedent’s heirs if the will does not dispose of that remainder. These are the “residuary beneficiaries” when the will gives them the residue. Do not mail to a deceased person and treat the obligation as finished, or assume a surviving spouse automatically replaces that person on the list.

When might a government or consular official receive notice?

Certain charitable provisions require notice to the Attorney General. Section 8111 applies when the will involves or may involve a charitable testamentary trust, except one with a designated trustee resident in California, or a charitable gift without an identified devisee. The notice must be accompanied by copies of the petition and will and delivered to the Attorney General as provided in section 1209. This is not a rule that every gift to a named charity requires that same additional notice; the charity’s own entitlement to notice is a separate question.

Certain foreign-citizenship circumstances require consular notice. Under section 8113, notice goes to a recognized diplomatic or consular official of the foreign country maintaining a U.S. office if a citizen of that country dies without a will, leaves a will naming no executor, or property appears likely to pass to a citizen of that country. Citizenship and mailing address are different facts; an overseas address alone does not explain the whole rule.

Other government notices have their own purpose and timing. Section 8112 points to separate creditor and public-entity notices during administration. Current section 9202 addresses the Franchise Tax Board and, when its conditions apply, Health Care Services, the Victim Compensation Board, and Child Support Services. Sections 215 and 216 also contain separate notices of death. Do not assume mailing DE-121 completes those obligations or that every agency belongs on every opening-hearing mailing list.

Does every creditor named in item 1 need an individual DE-121 mailing?

Item 1’s printed address to heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and other interested people describes the notice’s audience, including its newspaper audience. It is not by itself the individual service list in section 8110. A contingent creditor has a claim that depends on a condition or future event.

Creditors have a separate notice process during estate administration, including DE-157, Notice of Administration to Creditors. A creditor may also fit another notice category or be entitled to special notice in an existing proceeding. Check those actual grounds rather than assuming that either publication alone or mailing DE-121 handles every creditor obligation.

What if I do not know someone’s address?

An unknown address is a problem to address with the court, not permission to omit the person. Section 1212 and Rule 7.52 govern the procedure when a person entitled to notice cannot be located.

The rule requires a declaration describing the search before the court prescribes another form of notice or dispenses with notice. It calls for the person’s name, last known address, approximately when they lived there, efforts to locate them, and facts explaining why the address cannot be obtained. It specifies inquiries of people who may know, directory checks, and property-record searches. Read the full rule and local instructions; a brief statement that “the address is unknown” does not explain those efforts.

The court decides whether the search and proposed notice are sufficient. The guide cannot make that determination, and publishing the ordinary probate notice does not automatically excuse required notice to an identifiable person.

Page 1 — Case Information and Items 1–3

What goes at the top of DE-121?

Complete the attorney-or-party contact block and the superior court’s county, addresses, and branch. Attorney fields, including the State Bar number, concern a lawyer. Identify the estate and decedent, repeat the decedent’s name in the notice title, and use the assigned case number. Leave “For Court Use Only” to the court. The estate name and case number also appear at the top of page 2.

1–3. Whose names belong in these lines?

  • Item 1: give all names by which the decedent was known. This line identifies the person who died, not the people receiving mail.
  • Item 2: name the petitioner who filed DE-111 and the county where the petition was filed.
  • Item 3: name the person the petition asks the court to appoint as personal representative. This may be the petitioner, but the two roles are not necessarily held by the same person.

For example, if Jordan files a petition asking the court to appoint Alex, Jordan belongs in item 2 and Alex in item 3. The notice is reporting the request; it does not say Alex has already been appointed.

4–5. What requests does the notice announce?

4. Is a will being offered for probate?

Check item 4 when the petition asks the court to admit the decedent’s will and any codicils to probate. The statement tells recipients that those documents are available for examination in the court file. Match the filed petition; the checkbox does not establish that the will is valid or has already been admitted.

5. What does the IAEA paragraph mean?

Check item 5 when the petition requests authority under the Independent Administration of Estates Act, often called IAEA. This authority lets an appointed representative take many administration actions without obtaining a separate court approval each time. Certain important actions still require notice unless the applicable notice is waived or the action is consented to.

The printed paragraph tells interested people about the request and the opportunity to object and show good cause against it. DE-121 does not ask you to choose full or limited authority here or grant either one. Those details belong to the petition and the court’s eventual order. Section 10451 requires the notice to disclose the IAEA request; do not leave item 5 unchecked when the petition makes that request. The DE-111 guide’s IAEA explanation provides the broader context.

6–10. Hearing Details and Information for Recipients

6. Which hearing information do I use?

Use the date, time, department, and room assigned by the court for this petition. Item 6b identifies whether the hearing address is the same as the court address above or another address, which you must specify. Do not choose a date yourself or assume the mailing address is the hearing location.

Confirm current appearance instructions, including any remote-appearance procedure, with the court. If the hearing information changes after notice goes out, check what corrected or additional notice the court requires. A private message about a new date is not automatically a substitute for that procedure.

7. What does the objection paragraph tell recipients?

Item 7 is a printed explanation of how someone who objects may respond: appear at the hearing and state objections or file written objections before the hearing, personally or through an attorney. It is not a box for the petitioner to explain why no one should object. A recipient considering an objection needs to understand the actual petition and the applicable court procedure; receiving the notice does not require agreeing to the request.

8. Why does the notice mention creditor deadlines?

The notice also informs creditors and contingent creditors about claims. Its printed rule refers to the later of four months after Letters are first issued to a general personal representative or 60 days after the date of mailing or personal delivery to the creditor of the notice under section 9052. The creditor must file the claim with the court and provide the required copy to the appointed representative.

These are creditor-claim periods, not the deadline for mailing DE-121 before the hearing. They do not simply run from the day you fill out DE-121. Section 9100 and other claim and limitation rules can affect the result; a creditor with a deadline question should have that specific issue reviewed. The opening notice does not replace the representative’s later creditor-notice responsibilities.

9. What is a Request for Special Notice?

Item 9 tells interested people they may examine the court file and identifies DE-154, Request for Special Notice. That request concerns receiving specified later filings or hearing notices, such as inventories, accounts, or petitions. It is not proof that DE-121 was mailed and is not an objection to the petition.

For estate administration, section 1250 provides for the request after Letters have been issued and requires delivery of a copy to the representative or their attorney. If a special-notice request is already effective in an existing proceeding, check its scope and section 1252 rather than leaving the requester out of a later notice process.

10. Whose contact information goes at the bottom?

Select petitioner or attorney for petitioner, then provide that person’s name, address, and telephone number. This is the contact information for the petition, not the mailing server’s contact block. Page 1 has no petitioner’s verification or signature line; the sworn mailing declaration is on page 2.

Who can mail DE-121, and how is it sent?

Have another qualified adult who is not a party to the case perform the mailing. California Courts’ formal-probate guidance says the petitioner cannot mail the notice. The DE-121 proof specifically requires the server to declare that they are over 18, not a party, and a resident of or employed in the county where the mailing occurs.

The petitioner or their attorney can prepare the notice and coordinate the process. The person doing the mailing must be able to truthfully complete the proof about their own service. Simply asking someone else to sign after the petitioner mailed the envelopes does not fix that distinction.

Under section 1215, mail within the United States is first-class mail, which includes certified, registered, and express mail. An address outside the United States requires the applicable international mail. Use a sealed, postage-paid envelope addressed to the recipient at their residence or place of business, subject to the unknown-address procedure. Ordinary first-class mail is not turned into a universal certified-mail requirement.

Prepare the recipient names and addresses individually. Rule 7.51 addresses direct notice, separate notices for people in the same household, and restrictions on using an “in care of” address. Do not rely on one household member to pass a single notice around. Check the additional copies required for minors and legal representatives.

Can I use personal delivery or email instead?

Section 1215 also permits personal delivery and, under its conditions, electronic delivery. Electronic delivery requires the recipient’s express consent on the appropriate Judicial Council form for this proceeding and an electronic address supplied for that purpose. Knowing someone’s email address or having exchanged emails is not that consent.

DE-121’s built-in proof is specifically for service by mail. It cannot truthfully document hand delivery or email. If another permitted method is used, confirm the appropriate proof and filing procedure for that method. This guide’s page-2 walkthrough concerns mailing.

How far before the probate hearing must notice be mailed?

The section 8110 notice must be given at least 15 days before the hearing. For service by mail under section 1215, delivery is complete when the notice is deposited in the mail; the statute says the notice period is not extended. Do not automatically add the five mailing days used in some other court procedures.

The 15-day period is measured in calendar days, not 15 court business days. Code of Civil Procedure section 12c directs backward counting for acts due a specified number of days before a hearing, excluding the hearing day. Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays within a calendar-day period are not all skipped as they would be when counting court days.

Plan earlier than the last possible day. If the calculated deadline falls on a weekend or holiday, or a court order requires a longer period, verify the applicable computation and order rather than assuming you may mail closer to the hearing. The newspaper also needs enough lead time to meet its separate publication schedule. Filing the notice with the court does not count as mailing it to the recipients.

Do I have to publish notice too?

For the ordinary opening petition, yes: newspaper publication is required in addition to individual notice. Section 8120 makes that separation explicit. Mailing DE-121 does not complete publication, and publication does not replace required notice to particular people.

For example, if the newspaper runs the notice on schedule but the required individual notices are never sent, only the publication part has been addressed. If every required envelope is mailed but no notice is published, the publication requirement is still outstanding.

Which newspaper is used?

Section 8121 generally requires a newspaper of general circulation in the city where the decedent lived, or where the property is located in the nonresident situation covered by section 7052. It supplies fallback rules when there is no qualifying city newspaper or the residence or property is outside a city. Those rules look to a qualifying county newspaper circulated in the relevant area and, if none exists, the specified California newspaper nearest the county seat.

Confirm that the newspaper meets the rule for this estate and that its publication dates fit the hearing. An obituary, a social-media post, or choosing any newspaper somewhere in the county does not establish compliant probate publication. Ask how the newspaper handles the notice text, schedule, and proof before arranging publication.

What are the publication deadlines?

  • First publication: at least 15 days before the hearing.
  • Number and spacing: section 8121 provides for three publications in a newspaper issued at least weekly, with at least five intervening days between the first and last publication dates, excluding those two publication dates.
  • Completion and proof: publication must be completed before the hearing, and the required publication affidavit must be filed before the court hears the petition.

The five-day spacing rule concerns the first and last publications; it does not say that five days must separate each pair of successive publications. And the 15-day rule concerns the first publication, not the date you send the form to the newspaper. A newspaper’s earlier submission cutoff is a practical deadline you must also accommodate.

Does the newspaper publish DE-121 itself?

The newspaper uses the prescribed notice from DE-121, formatted for publication. This is not a separate generic announcement you write from scratch. The note at the bottom of page 1 tells the publisher what to print and what to omit.

Publication begins with the notice caption and includes the case number. The caption and decedent’s name must be at least 8-point type, and the notice text at least 7-point type. Only checked checkbox items are printed. The form directs omission of the information above the notice caption, italicized parenthetical instructions, paragraph numbers, mailing information, and all page-2 material. Give the newspaper the completed notice and check its preparation instructions; the recipient address list and mailing proof are not part of the published notice.

How is publication proved?

The publication affidavit is separate from DE-121’s mailing proof. Section 8124 requires an affidavit showing proper publication, including a copy of the notice and the publication date information, to be filed with the court before the petition can be heard.

Confirm whether the newspaper files its proof directly or sends it to you for filing, then verify it reached the court file. Paying the publication bill or keeping a newspaper clipping is not the same as having the required affidavit on file.

Page 2 — What Is the Proof of Service by Mail?

The proof tells the court who mailed the notice, to whom, when, where, and by which stated mailing method. The server signs a declaration under penalty of perjury about what actually happened. It does not prove that the recipient read the notice, agreed to the petition, or received an inheritance.

For example, if Sam prepares the form and Lee properly performs the mailing, Lee completes the mailing declaration. Sam’s knowledge that envelopes were prepared is not a substitute for Lee’s account of the service. Complete the proof after the mailing step; do not sign a declaration about a future mailing.

1–5. What does the server complete?

  • Item 1: the server must satisfy the printed qualifications: over 18, not a party, and living or working in the county where the mailing occurred.
  • Item 2: give the server’s residence or business address. This is not automatically the petitioner’s address.
  • Item 3: identify the actual mailing method. Choice 3a concerns depositing sealed, fully postage-paid envelopes with USPS. Choice 3b concerns placement for collection and mailing under the stated ordinary business practices. For 3b, the server must be familiar with those practices, including same-day deposit with USPS in sealed, postage-paid envelopes. Do not select it merely because the mailing happened at work.
  • Item 4: enter the actual mailing date and the city and state where mailing occurred. Use the service facts, not the hearing date or the date the petition was filed.
  • Item 5: check the box if a copy of the petition or another document referred to in the notice was served with it. The checkbox records what was included; it does not by itself decide what the law required you to include.

Must a copy of DE-111 go with every notice?

Section 8110 requires notice of the hearing; it does not impose a universal requirement to include the entire petition with every ordinary notice. Particular rules can require more. For example, the Attorney General notice under section 8111 includes the petition and will, and applicable special notice under section 1252 includes the filed document.

Check the recipient-specific rule, court order, and local instructions when assembling the packet. The server should know exactly which documents went into the envelopes so item 5 and any additional proof accurately describe the service.

Who signs the declaration, and where do the recipients go?

The server dates the declaration, types or prints their name, and signs it under penalty of perjury under California law. The form does not contain a notary acknowledgment. The signature certifies the completed proof and recipient information, so review both before signing.

The table below has six numbered rows for the names and full addresses of the people served. Include the street address, city, state, and ZIP code as applicable, and complete international addresses where needed. These are the addresses actually used, not simply the addresses you hoped to find.

If more space is needed, check the continuation box and use an identified attachment. DE-121(MA), Attachment to Notice of Petition to Administer Estate—Proof of Service by Mail, is the optional Judicial Council continuation form. Identify the estate and case number, continue the recipient list, and keep its page numbering connected to the proof. If different mailings had different dates, places, servers, or enclosed documents, the proof must accurately distinguish those facts rather than putting everything under one inaccurate declaration.

The box at the bottom of page 2 concerns disability accommodations for the hearing, not service. It asks for at least five days’ notice for the listed assistance. Contact the clerk promptly about accommodations and the current MC-410, Disability Accommodation Request procedure.

What happens after notice is completed?

What do I file with the court?

Make sure the completed notice and signed proof of service, including any continuation, are filed through the court’s procedure, and verify that the publication affidavit is also on file. Keep copies of what was sent, the recipient list, and the filed proofs. Filing the petition earlier did not file these later facts automatically.

Follow the court’s deadline and process for getting proofs into the file for probate review. A court may review the papers before the hearing and issue probate examiner notes identifying missing information. Check those notes and any orders, respond through the required procedure, and attend the hearing as directed.

What if notice is late, incomplete, or incorrect?

A notice problem can prevent the petition from being heard as planned or require corrected notice and a later hearing. Section 8124 expressly bars hearing the petition without the publication affidavit on file. Section 1202 also allows the court to require additional notice or a longer notice period when the circumstances call for it.

Identify the actual problem promptly: an omitted recipient, wrong hearing date, late mailing, incorrect publication, or missing proof may call for different steps. Do not backdate the proof, assume that silence cures defective notice, or decide for yourself that a publication error is excused. The applicable remedy and effect on the hearing require the court’s procedure and, where rights or sufficiency are disputed, specific legal advice.

What if the petition or will changes after notice?

Rule 7.53 generally requires the same notice, including publication, for an amended pleading or amendment as for the pleading it changes. A supplement has a different rule. Rule 7.54 specifically addresses instruments offered for probate: the notice covers instruments filed with and specifically referred to in the petition for which notice was given; another instrument requires an amended petition and new published and served notice.

Finding another will or codicil is therefore not just a matter of bringing one extra page to the hearing. Check how the new material must be presented and noticed. Calling a change a “supplement” does not itself settle which rule applies.

Does completing DE-121 make me the executor or administrator?

No. Notice gives people an opportunity to respond before the court considers the petition. The court still decides the requested appointment and orders. Proper notice and a lack of objections do not automatically grant the petition.

The appointment becomes effective when Letters are issued under section 8400. DE-140, Order for Probate, and DE-150, Letters, belong to that appointment stage. The representative must meet the applicable qualification requirements, including the oath and any ordered bond. Mailing DE-121, publishing it, or filing a proof does not substitute for issued Letters.

After appointment, estate administration continues: gathering assets, inventory and appraisal, creditor and agency notices, debts and taxes, reporting, and eventual distribution. The DE-111 guide’s next-step roadmap and California Courts’ formal-probate overview place those later tasks in context.

Before You Finish

  • Does the notice match the filed petition, including the proposed representative, will and codicil request, and IAEA request?
  • Are the case number, decedent’s names, court address, and assigned hearing details correct?
  • Have I checked heirs and will-based recipients separately, then addressed trusts, minors, representatives, deceased beneficiaries, and any special recipient categories?
  • Have unknown addresses been handled through the required search and court procedure?
  • Is a qualified nonparty adult performing the mailing, with the correct documents, addresses, and timing?
  • Does the completed proof truthfully describe each mailing and identify every recipient, including continuations?
  • Have publication dates, the qualifying newspaper, correct notice text, and the publication affidavit been confirmed separately?
  • Are the required notice and proofs in the court file, and have any probate review notes or notice orders been addressed?
  • Do I understand that completed notice is a step toward the hearing, not an appointment or permission to distribute property?

For focused task guides, see who must receive notice of the petition and when and how to arrange DE-121 newspaper publication.

Official Forms and Sources

Sources checked October 4, 2026. The links throughout this guide connect each explanation to its official form, statute, or rule. Check for later revisions and use the filing court’s current local instructions.

Your court’s probate clerk or self-help center can explain available procedural assistance. Disputed heirship, unusual recipient questions, contested petitions, and the sufficiency or correction of notice may require a probate attorney’s review of the particular facts.

Back to Probate & Estates Guides · Read the Form DE-111 Guide