Probate Division
E-NOTICE: New rules went into effect on 7/1/25 requiring courts to serve court notices by email in all civil matters (Civil, Family, Probate, Small Claims, and Juvenile Dependency). Attorneys are mandated to accept such notices and self-represented litigants can consent to receive electronic notices. Click here for more information.
IMPORTANT: We are finding that a significant number of email hosts are rejecting these emails. Please "white list" this email address to ensure proper delivery of important Court notices: noreply@scscourt.org.
Contact the Probate Court
Telephone: Court Telephone Numbers
Email: ssprobinfo@scscourt.org
Probate Overview
The Probate Division of Superior Court (located at the Downtown Superior Courthouse) handles a wide range of issues involving adults and children. The following is a list of matters heard in the Probate area of our Court. Clicking on the links below will take you to other pages of this website, the California Court's website, or outside agency.
- Transfer of property of people who have died
- Disputes about trusts
- Conservatorship - Appointment of a person to oversee the finances and/or the care of an older adult or a developmentally disabled adult who cannot take care of him-/herself
- LPS (Lanterman-Petris-Short) Mental Health Conservatorship - Appointment of a person to make certain mental health decisions for someone who is gravely disabled and is unable to care for his/her personal needs
- Requesting a hearing to challenge your quarantine order
- Guardianship - Appointment of a person to oversee the finances and/or the care of a child whose parents are unable to care of the child
- Adoptions for children and adults. For self-help information see the Santa Clara County Adoption Services information and the Judicial Council's Guide to Adoption in California.
- Name Change or Name/Gender Change for adults and children
- Minor’s Compromise - Approval by the court of the terms of an agreement to settle a claim by a child, usually involving an injury
- Emancipation - Freeing a child from the control of a parent and giving the child some rights as an adult
- Establishing a fact of a birth, death or a marriage that has not been recorded or cannot be obtained
- CARE(Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment) Act Information and Resources
For information on restraining orders for older adults who have been abused either financially or physically, see the Elder/Dependent Adult Abuse Self-Help guide on the California Courts website or the Elder/Dependent Adult Abuse Restraining Order Forms page on this website.
Diagram Of The Probate Process
