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Form DE-120 Guide: Notice of Hearing—Decedent’s Estate or Trust

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What is Form DE-120?

Form DE-120 is California’s Notice of Hearing—Decedent’s Estate or Trust. It tells the people entitled to notice what document has been filed in an estate or trust proceeding and when and where the court will hear it. It can accompany matters such as an estate account, a petition for distribution, a status report, or an applicable trust petition.

The notice announces the matter; it does not ask for relief on its own or show that the court has approved the request. The petition, report, account, or application identified in item 1 contains the underlying substance. To understand the notice, start with that document.

The usual path is: file the underlying document and obtain hearing information → identify the applicable notice rules and recipients → prepare DE-120 and arrange proper service → file the required proof → follow the court’s hearing procedure → receive the court’s decision. The form number alone does not determine the recipient list or deadline.

DE-120 is not the notice for a Petition to Administer Estate when DE-121 is required. The distinction matters even though both forms announce probate hearings.

Form version: DE-120, revised January 1, 2020, two pages. Verified against the current California Courts listing and both pages of the official form on October 4, 2026. Get the current official DE-120 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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When do I use DE-120?

Use DE-120 when it is the prescribed notice for the particular estate or trust hearing you are setting. It identifies a petition, application, report, or account already filed with the court. It is not a universal notice for anything involving an inheritance.

Common contexts include a hearing to settle a personal representative’s account, a petition for distribution of estate property, and a report explaining why estate administration is not yet complete. In a trust proceeding, it may announce a petition concerning a trustee’s account, instructions for the trustee, or another internal trust matter under Probate Code section 17200.

A personal representative administers a decedent’s estate after court appointment; an executor or administrator is a type of personal representative. A trustee administers property under a trust. Those are different roles, even if one person happens to hold both. A trust hearing does not necessarily mean someone is opening a probate estate.

The person filing the underlying paper, or their attorney, prepares the notice and arranges the required notice process. Preparing the form, serving it, and signing proof of service are separate jobs. The server must meet the applicable qualifications and be able to describe the service truthfully.

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

DE-121 gives notice of a petition to administer an estate. DE-120 gives notice of applicable other estate or trust matters. DE-120’s page-1 footnote expressly tells you not to use it for a petition to administer an estate and directs you to DE-121.

For example, the notice accompanying an opening Petition for Probate is different from the notice of a later hearing on the representative’s account. Both concern the same estate, but they announce different requests and may have different recipient and procedural requirements.

Our DE-111 guide explains the Petition for Probate. Our DE-121 guide explains its notice, including individual notice and newspaper publication. Do not transfer that opening-petition publication process to every DE-120 hearing.

When does the form direct me to another notice?

The same footnote identifies two more exclusions:

These distinctions come from the actual form. The “Other” caption checkbox is not permission to disregard them. Match the notice to the underlying proceeding before filling it out.

What should I gather before completing DE-120?

Have the filed document and the court’s hearing information in front of you. A useful working file includes:

  • The complete filed petition, application, report, or account, including its exact title and any related requests that the notice must disclose.
  • The estate or trust name, case number, court county and branch, and confirmed hearing date, time, department, room, and location.
  • The filer’s name and representative role, if any, such as executor, administrator, or trustee.
  • The statute or court instruction governing this particular hearing’s recipients, service method, documents, and notice period.
  • A current recipient list with addresses, any attorneys of record, effective special-notice requests, and information about minors, legal representatives, or deceased recipients.
  • Any relevant court orders and local requirements for filing the notice, filing proof, posting, and appearing at the hearing.

Separate records used to work out the notice list from the documents actually served or filed. You may need to consult a will, trust, prior account, or family information without attaching every record to DE-120. Conversely, if the applicable rule requires the petition or another document to accompany the notice, sending only the notice is not enough.

Page 1 — What goes in the case-information fields?

Complete the attorney-or-party contact information and the superior court’s county, addresses, and branch. Attorney-specific fields, including the State Bar number and “Attorney for,” concern a lawyer. Use the assigned case number and leave “For Court Use Only” to the court.

Match the existing case caption: “Estate of” or “In the matter of,” the name, and the appropriate decedent, trust, or other designation. A decedent is the person who died. For a trust matter, use the trust case’s identifying information rather than automatically entering the petitioner’s name as the estate name. Repeat the caption and case number on page 2.

The printed paragraph beneath the title explains that the recipient may attend, object, or respond, and that the court may act without them if they do not. It does not say the underlying request has already been granted. A petitioner must still follow the court’s appearance instructions; this paragraph is not permission to ignore a separate order to appear.

1. How do I describe what the court will hear?

Give the filer’s name, their representative capacity if any, and the complete title and a brief description of the filed document. This is the most important substantive entry on page 1. A recipient should be able to tell what decision is being requested.

“Representative capacity” means the role in which the person is acting—for example, as the estate’s executor or as trustee of the named trust. It does not ask for a family biography. If the person is filing in their own capacity rather than in a representative role, do not invent an appointment.

Rule 7.50 requires the complete title of the pleading. Use the actual filed title rather than a loose label such as “probate hearing” or “estate paperwork.” Then briefly explain its subject and the relief being requested. The notice points recipients to the filed documents for more information; it is not a replacement for those documents.

For example, if the filed paper is a final account and a petition for final distribution, describing it only as “accounting” can hide the distribution request. The notice should identify both parts. If approval of an estate account also requests compensation for the representative or their attorney, section 11000 requires the notice to say so. That section also requires disclosure when a final account is filed with a petition for final distribution.

Keep the description consistent with the filed paper. Do not add a new request through the notice, and do not omit a request merely to make the form shorter. An amended request may require a new notice process.

What does the status-report checkbox mean?

Check it when the filing is a report of the status of estate administration under section 12200. It is not a generic box for anything that updates the court.

A status report explains the condition of the estate, why it cannot yet be distributed and closed, and the estimated time needed to finish. Section 12201 requires notice of the report’s hearing to people then interested in the estate and a statement about the right to petition for an account. DE-120 supplies that statement in the bold notice box below item 2.

An account reports the representative’s handling of estate finances and property. A status report explaining delay is not necessarily that account. The printed notice points to section 10950, under which an interested person may ask the court to order an account. Checking the status-report box does not itself make that request or order an accounting. Keep the printed notice intact.

2. Which hearing information belongs here?

Enter the court-assigned date, time, department, and room for the matter identified in item 1. Give the court’s name and hearing address if different from the information above. Do not substitute the filing date, a proposed date that has not been set, or the clerk’s mailing address for the actual hearing location.

Check the court’s current appearance instructions, including any remote-appearance arrangements. The accommodations box asks for at least five days’ notice for the listed hearing assistance. Contact the clerk promptly and use the current MC-410, Disability Accommodation Request procedure when appropriate.

Page 1 does not contain a petitioner’s declaration or signature line. The service declaration on page 2 is signed by the person who performed the mailing. The clerk’s posting certificate is a separate court function.

Who must receive DE-120?

The recipient list comes from the law governing the underlying hearing, together with applicable special-notice requests and court orders. DE-120 itself does not provide one list that works for every estate and trust proceeding.

Start by identifying what is being heard in item 1. Then identify the notice statute for that request, check each required category, and account for any additional recipients or representatives. An old mailing list is useful background, but changes in interests, deaths, representation, or special-notice requests can matter.

How do estate-hearing recipient rules differ?

Section 1220 supplies notice procedures when the governing statute calls for notice under that section. If that statute does not specify recipients, section 1220 identifies the personal representative and people who requested special notice under section 1250. It also preserves applicable special-notice requirements. That default does not erase a different statute’s additional recipients.

  • Hearing on an estate account: section 11000 includes section 1220 recipients and known heirs and devisees whose interests would be affected. It adds the Attorney General if a portion of the estate is to pass to the state by escheat and the account would affect that interest and, for an insolvent estate, creditors with allowed or approved claims that remain partly or wholly unpaid.
  • Petition for distribution: section 11601 includes section 1220 recipients and affected known heirs and devisees, with specified Attorney General and Controller notice. If property is going to the state because no beneficiary is known, or to a beneficiary whose whereabouts are unknown, the Controller provision also requires a copy of the latest account.
  • Status report under section 12200: section 12201 calls for notice under section 1220 to people then interested in the estate.

An heir inherits under the rules that apply without a will; a devisee is designated to receive a gift under a will. A person can fit both descriptions. Where the statute asks whether an interest is affected, do not replace that question with “Was this person on the opening DE-111?” These examples show why the hearing’s subject matters; they are not a complete list for every possible petition.

Who receives notice of a trust petition?

For petitions governed by section 17203, subdivision (a) requires notice to all trustees and all beneficiaries, subject to the beneficiary provisions beginning with section 15800. It also requires notice to the Attorney General when the petition concerns a charitable trust within the Attorney General’s jurisdiction.

The qualifications matter. For a revocable trust, section 15800 can place beneficiary rights with a competent person holding the power to revoke, subject to its terms and exceptions. Current section 15804 also allows specified representation for notice purposes, subject to conditions including the absence of a conflict over the particular matter. A parent, trustee, or other person does not automatically represent everyone merely because of that title. The statute preserves specified special-notice, appearance, and statutory notice requirements.

Section 17203(b) separately addresses certain people who are neither trustees nor beneficiaries but whose rights, title, or interests would be affected and who do not receive notice under subdivision (a). They must receive both the notice and petition through the formal service procedures that provision specifies. Do not assume ordinary first-class mailing is sufficient for that group just because DE-120 has a mailing proof.

Section 17203(c) contains a further procedure when a recipient has been deceased for at least 40 days, no personal representative has been appointed, and the interest has not passed to someone else. Its conditions must be checked before using the listed substitute recipients. A disputed trust interest, representation conflict, or deceased recipient requires review of the actual facts and trust terms, not a guess based on a family relationship.

What about requests for special notice and legal representatives?

DE-154, Request for Special Notice, is a separate request for specified notices or filings. For an estate proceeding, section 1252 generally requires delivery of the relevant filed paper along with hearing notice to an effective requester, unless the court dispenses with notice. Trust special notice is governed by section 17204. Check the request’s scope and effectiveness; it is not the same thing as having once received a notice.

Also review Rule 7.51 and section 1214. Depending on the circumstances, additional copies go to an attorney of record, a guardian or conservator, or a minor and the person with legal custody with whom the minor lives. Rule 7.51 also addresses deceased beneficiaries in decedents’ estates. In trust matters, account for the applicable statutory representation rules rather than assuming the estate rules resolve every situation.

Under section 1201, the person required to give notice need not give it to themselves or someone who joins in the petition. Informal agreement, family membership, or a conversation about the hearing does not by itself establish that exception.

What if an address is unknown?

Do not silently remove the person from the list. Rule 7.52 requires a declaration describing the diligent search before the court prescribes another form of notice or dispenses with notice. It calls for the name, last known address, approximate date there, efforts made, and why the address cannot be obtained, including specified inquiries and record searches.

The court decides whether the search and proposed notice are sufficient. Mailing to a convenient address without a proper basis, or having a relative promise to pass the papers along, does not resolve that question.

How far before the hearing must DE-120 be served?

There is no single deadline for every DE-120 hearing. Two important rules illustrate the difference:

  • When section 1220 applies: notice must be delivered at least 15 days before the hearing, subject to applicable law and court orders. Many estate-account, distribution, and status-report notices use this procedure.
  • For a trust petition governed by section 17203: the statutory notice period is at least 30 days before the hearing. Subdivision (b) also requires service of the petition on its specified affected persons and expressly prohibits shortening their notice period.

A 15-day mailing schedule for an estate account cannot simply be reused for a trust petition requiring 30 days. Both notices may use DE-120; the underlying law changes the schedule. Other requests can have their own rules, so identify the governing provision before calculating the date.

How do I count the notice period?

These 15- and 30-day provisions use calendar days, not court-day counts. Code of Civil Procedure section 12c directs backward counting for an act due a specified number of days before a hearing, excluding the hearing day. Weekends and holidays within a calendar-day period are not all skipped.

Under section 1215, delivery by mail is complete when the paper is deposited in the mail, and the notice period is not extended. Do not automatically add the five mailing days associated with some other court procedures. Personal delivery under that section is complete when the paper is delivered personally to the recipient.

Plan with room to correct mistakes. If the calculated deadline falls on a weekend or holiday, the matter involves a special service rule, or a court order changes the notice requirements, verify the applicable computation before relying on a last-day mailing. Section 1202 permits additional notice or a longer period where the court finds the circumstances require it. Preparing or filing DE-120 on time is not the same as completing service on time.

Can DE-120 be mailed, and who can serve it?

Mail is a permitted method when the governing notice provision allows delivery under section 1215. The existence of a mailing proof on DE-120 does not override a statute requiring a different service procedure.

For mail under section 1215, use first-class mail for a U.S. address and the applicable international mail for an address outside the United States. First-class mail includes certified, registered, and express mail, but the general rule does not require every notice to be certified. The envelope must be sealed, properly addressed, and postage paid.

Use another qualified adult who is not a party to perform the service. The DE-120 mailing proof requires the server to declare that they are over 18, not a party, and a resident of or employed in the county where mailing occurred. The petitioner cannot perform the mailing and then have someone else certify that the other person did it.

For section 1220 mail notices, Rule 7.51 requires individual, direct notice, subject to the Probate Code’s exceptions. People in the same household receive separate notices. An “in care of” address is insufficient unless the adult entitled to notice directed that arrangement in writing. Check additional notice requirements for representatives and minors rather than assuming one envelope covers everyone.

How is personal delivery different from mailing?

Personal delivery means the paper is handed to the person being served. Ordinary mail is deposited for delivery through the mail system. The proof must describe the method actually used; a mailing declaration cannot establish that someone was personally handed the notice.

DE-120(P), Proof of Personal Service of Notice of Hearing—Decedent’s Estate or Trust, provides a separate proof for actual personal delivery. Its server declares being over 18 and not a party. It does not impose the mailing proof’s county-residence-or-employment statement.

Where a statute instead requires service under the civil summons-service provisions, as section 17203(b) does for its specified affected persons, follow those provisions for the documents, recipients, permitted method, and proof. Section 1215’s ordinary mailing choice is not a substitute. Do not use DE-120(P) to describe a different method as if it were personal hand delivery.

Can I email the notice?

Section 1215 permits electronic delivery only under its conditions, including the recipient’s express consent on the appropriate Judicial Council form in this proceeding and an electronic address provided for that purpose. Having an email address or exchanging ordinary messages does not establish that consent. Electronic delivery is also excluded when the paper requires certified or registered mail.

The built-in DE-120 proof is for mail. If a permitted electronic method is used, use a proof appropriate to that method and follow the court’s procedure. Filing a document electronically with the court does not by itself establish that each recipient was properly served.

Page 2 — What is the Clerk’s Certificate of Posting?

This section records posting performed through the court clerk when posting is required. It is separate from the Proof of Service by Mail beneath it. Do not sign it as though you were the clerk.

The certificate states that the certifying person is not a party, identifies where the notice was posted and the posting date, and provides a dated clerk/deputy signature line. Under section 1230, when a law calls for posting under that section, the clerk arranges courthouse posting at least 15 days before the hearing.

The presence of this section does not make posting mandatory in every case using DE-120. Check whether the underlying proceeding requires it and how the clerk wants the notice submitted. Posting is also different from newspaper publication and individual service; one does not automatically replace another. DE-121’s opening-probate publication instructions should not be copied into every DE-120 matter.

Page 2 — What does the Proof of Service by Mail mean?

It is the server’s factual declaration about the mailing. It identifies the server, method, date, place, recipients, and addresses. Signing it does not certify that the petition is legally correct, that recipients agree, or that the court should grant the request.

Complete it after the mailing. For example, if Riley prepares the notice and Morgan performs the mailing, Morgan signs the proof about that service. Riley cannot sign in Morgan’s place just because Riley assembled the packet.

1–5. How does the server complete the mailing proof?

  • Item 1: confirm the printed qualifications: over 18, not a party, and living or working in the county where mailing occurred.
  • Item 2: enter the server’s residence or business address.
  • Item 3: select the method actually used. Choice 3a covers depositing sealed, postage-paid envelopes with USPS. Choice 3b covers placing them for collection and mailing under the stated ordinary business practices. For 3b, the server must be familiar with those practices and their same-day deposit with USPS; simply working in an office does not establish the declaration.
  • Item 4: record the actual mailing date and the city and state where mailing occurred. These are not the hearing date or the date the petition was filed.
  • Item 5: check the box if the petition or another document referred to in item 1 of the notice was served with the notice. This records what was sent; it does not decide what should have been sent.

Does the petition always go with DE-120?

The governing rule determines the packet. Section 1220 does not itself say that every notice must include every underlying paper. Other provisions do require documents: section 1252 addresses the filed paper for applicable special notice, section 17203(b) requires the petition for its specified affected persons, and section 11601 can require the latest account with notice to the Controller.

Check the actual requirement and any court order before service. Do not assume the checkbox makes an accompanying petition optional, and do not check it when the petition was not included. If different recipients received different documents, the proof must distinguish those facts accurately.

How do I finish and sign the mailing proof?

List each recipient and the address actually used in the five-row table. Include the requested street address, city, state, and ZIP code, with complete international addressing where applicable. If more space is needed, mark the continuation box and attach the additional list.

DE-120(MA)/GC-020(MA), Attachment to Notice of Hearing Proof of Service by Mail, supplies extra recipient rows. Keep the estate or matter name, case number, and page identification connected to the proof. The shared GC number does not change which notice form is appropriate for the case.

After reviewing the declaration and all recipient information, the server dates, prints their name, and signs under penalty of perjury under California law. The form has no notary acknowledgment. If different servers or different mailing dates were involved, document those facts with the appropriate separate proofs or accurate continuations; do not compress them into one untrue account.

The footnote expressly says not to use this mailing proof for personal service. The separate personal-service form below addresses that method.

How do I prove personal service of DE-120?

Use proof that describes the actual personal delivery. DE-120 identifies DE-120(P) as an available form. Section 1264 allows proof by the deliverer’s affidavit showing the recipient, time, and place.

DE-120(P) asks the server to confirm the nonparty and age qualifications, state that the attached notice was personally delivered, and indicate whether the petition or another referenced document accompanied it. It also asks about the server’s status, such as registered process server, sheriff or marshal, or a person who is not registered, and requests the server’s name, address, telephone number, and applicable registration details.

Its recipient table records the name of each person actually served, the address where service occurred, and the date and time. The server signs the declaration under penalty of perjury; the form provides a separate certification for a California sheriff or marshal. It directs a separate completed, signed proof for each person who served copies of the notice.

DE-120(PA)/GC-020(PA), Attachment to Notice of Hearing Proof of Personal Service, provides continuation space. Use it for additional personal-service recipients, not as a substitute for the mail attachment. Attach the notice as the personal-service form directs, and ensure the declaration matches the documents and service actually performed.

What happens after DE-120 is served?

How is serving notice different from filing proof?

Service gives the required people notice; filing proof gives the court the record of that service. Both need attention. A correctly completed form sitting in your folder does not establish notice in the court file, and filing an unsigned or inaccurate proof does not complete service.

File the completed notice and signed proof, with any necessary attachments, through the court’s prescribed process. If posting or another notice step was required, make sure its proof is also accounted for. Keep copies of the notice, documents served, recipient information, and filed proofs.

Section 1260 requires proof of notice satisfactory to the court at or before the hearing. That is not a promise that last-minute filing will satisfy the court’s local submission and review procedures. Check those instructions early so the judge or probate examiner can review the proof in time.

What should I check before the hearing?

Review the court’s probate notes, tentative rulings, or other prehearing instructions where available. Check whether the notice and proof are on file, whether the court identified missing recipients or papers, and whether an appearance is required. Follow the court’s procedure for corrections and supplemental filings.

If the hearing date changes, confirm what updated notice is required. If the underlying pleading changes, Rule 7.53 generally requires the same hearing notice for an amendment as for the original pleading, including publication where the original required it. Supplements have a different rule: no additional hearing notice is required under that rule, but the supplement must be served when service of the underlying pleading was required, unless the court waives that service.

A missed deadline, omitted recipient, wrong document packet, or incorrect proof can affect whether the matter proceeds as scheduled. The court may require correction, further notice, or a continuance. Do not backdate service, sign for events that did not occur, or assume lack of an objection excuses a notice defect. What remedy is available depends on the particular problem and proceeding.

Does proper notice mean the court will grant the request?

No. Notice gives people an opportunity to learn about the matter and respond; the court still decides it. A notice of a petition for distribution does not itself authorize distributing the property. A notice of a trustee-compensation request does not approve the compensation.

At the hearing, the court considers the filed matter, notice and proof, any responses, and the relevant requirements. It may grant relief, deny it, request more information, or continue the matter. Follow the actual order and any remaining procedural steps. The California Courts formal-probate overview explains how hearings on accounts and distribution fit into estate administration.

Before You Finish

  • Have I identified the actual proceeding and confirmed that DE-120 is the correct notice, rather than DE-121 or another excluded notice form?
  • Does item 1 include the full filed title, the filer’s role, and the requests the notice must disclose?
  • Is the status-report checkbox accurate, and are the assigned hearing details correct?
  • Did I determine recipients, documents, service methods, and timing from the applicable law rather than reuse a universal list or deadline?
  • Have special-notice requests, attorneys, representatives, trust-representation rules, and any unknown addresses been addressed?
  • Did a qualified server perform service, and does the proof truthfully record each recipient, document, method, date, and place?
  • Have I used the mailing proof only for mail and an appropriate separate proof for personal or other service?
  • Are the notice, proofs, and required continuations filed, with any required clerk posting accounted for?
  • Have I checked the court’s review notes and appearance instructions, and kept notice separate from the eventual ruling?

For a focused service workflow that starts with the governing petition, see who must receive DE-120 and how far before the hearing to serve it.

Official Forms and Sources

Sources checked October 4, 2026. This guide follows the current official notice and service forms, the Probate Code, and California Rules of Court. The links throughout the text identify the provisions for each type of proceeding. Check for later changes and use the filing court’s current local instructions.

The court’s probate clerk or self-help center can explain available procedural assistance. Disputed recipient rights, conflicting trust interests, the adequacy of an address search, and the sufficiency or correction of service require attention to the particular facts.

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