Placer County surprises families who have handled an estate elsewhere: it has no standalone probate division. Probate matters “are filed and heard in the Placer County Superior Court’s Civil Division only,” per the Placer County Superior Court probate page. Everything runs out of the Hon. Howard G. Gibson Courthouse at the Bill Santucci Justice Center in Roseville. Bart Hubbard works with personal representatives, the executors and administrators a court appoints, and with successor trustees, the people who take over a trust after the person who created it dies.
Placer County is long. It begins on the valley floor around Roseville, Rocklin and Lincoln, climbs through oak-studded hills and the old Highway 49 and Interstate 80 towns, and ends on the Lake Tahoe shoreline. A valley-side estate is often a 1990s or 2000s subdivision home with an HOA, stucco and a tile roof. Up the hill, it can be a 1970s cabin on a steep parcel with a propane tank and a gravel driveway.
That spread changes how you prepare a house. Valley properties sell on condition and timing. Foothill and lake properties add questions about winter road access, septic, well output and insurance.
Key Facts
- Probate is filed and heard through the Civil Division at the Hon. Howard G. Gibson Courthouse, Bill Santucci Justice Center, 10820 Justice Center Drive, Roseville, CA 95678, main line (916) 408-6000 (probate page).
- Civil Division phone: (916) 408-6000, option 5. Tentative ruling requests go to (916) 408-6480, oral argument requests to (916) 408-6481 (civil division).
- Paper filings take an original plus two copies, two-hole punched, with a self-addressed stamped envelope for conformed copies (same page).
- Probate Calendar Notes are posted on the tentative rulings page, as a separate set from conservatorship and guardianship notes (tentative rulings).
- Probate is Chapter 80.00 of the local rules, Rules 80.1 through 80.5, effective January 1, 2026, including Rule 80.1.4 on calendar notes and Rule 80.1.8 on probate accounts (local rules).
- Probate financial documents cannot be e-filed. Local Rule 10.27(F) lists financial documents lodged under Rule 80.1.8 among filings that “will not be accepted by eFiling,” so they go in on paper.
- Placer County Assessor: 2980 Richardson Dr, Auburn, CA 95603, (530) 889-4300, with a Tahoe office at 775 N Lake Blvd, Suite 204, Tahoe City (Assessor contact).
- Placer County Clerk-Recorder: 3715 Atherton Road, Rocklin, CA 95765, satellite at 2954 Richardson Drive, Auburn, recording (530) 886-5600 (Clerk-Recorder).
Where do you file a probate case in Placer County?
Through the Civil Division at the Gibson Courthouse in Roseville. There is no separate probate counter and no separate probate phone tree, so calls route through the civil line at (916) 408-6000, option 5. That is also why you will not find a published probate department number.
What are Placer County probate calendar notes, and where do they live?
They are the court’s written comments on pending probate matters, posted on the tentative rulings page rather than the probate page. Conservatorship and guardianship notes post there too, so check you are reading the probate set. Local Rule 80.1.4 governs them.
Which documents still have to go in on paper?
Probate financial documents. Rule 10.27(F) excludes financial documents lodged under Rule 80.1.8 from e-filing, so an accounting package has to reach the clerk physically. Build extra days into the calendar, and bring the original plus two copies with a stamped return envelope.
Does a Placer County probate home have to sell for a minimum price?
If the sale needs court confirmation, yes. Probate Code 10309 bars confirmation unless the property was appraised within one year before the hearing and the offer is at least 90% of that value. With full authority under the Independent Administration of Estates Act, shortened to IAEA, the 90% floor does not apply, under Probate Code 10503. Read the letters before pricing.
How is a trust sale different here?
A successor trustee usually does not go to court. California law says trust administration “is intended to proceed expeditiously and free of judicial intervention,” under Probate Code 17209, and the trustee holds the power to sell under Probate Code 16226. No publication, no confirmation hearing, no overbid, the open bidding that can happen at a confirmation hearing. The trust sale page walks through it.
What does a successor trustee still owe the beneficiaries?
A written notice, quickly. When a revocable trust becomes irrevocable at the settlor’s death, the trustee must serve notice within 60 days, warning that nobody may contest the trust more than 120 days after service, under Probate Code 16061.7.
Where do the recording and property tax steps happen?
In two different cities. The Clerk-Recorder’s main office is on Atherton Road in Rocklin, with a satellite in Auburn, and that is where the deed is recorded. The Assessor sits on Richardson Drive in Auburn, with a second office in Tahoe City, and that is where a Proposition 19 parent-child claim goes if an heir plans to keep the home.
Cities and communities served
- Roseville, population 165,455
- Rocklin, population 74,842
- Lincoln, population 56,494
- Auburn, population 13,506
- Loomis, population 6,822
- Colfax, population 2,020
- Unincorporated communities including Granite Bay, Penryn, Newcastle, Meadow Vista, Foresthill, Sheridan, Tahoe City, Kings Beach, Tahoe Vista and Olympic Valley
City figures are California Department of Finance estimates as of January 1, 2026 (E-1 release). Community names come from cities and communities in Placer County.
What should you do first?
- Pull the letters and read the authority line. Full authority, limited authority and no letters lead to three different plans.
- Confirm whether the home was titled in a trust. If it was, this is likely a trust sale.
- Walk the property with the seasons in mind. Snow access, defensible space and well and septic records matter uphill.
- Ask the insurer in writing whether the policy still covers an unoccupied house.
- Get a written value opinion before spending a dollar on repairs.
- Calendar the paper filings, since nothing financial under Rule 80.1.8 goes in electronically.
Summary
- Placer County handles probate through the Civil Division only, at 10820 Justice Center Drive, Roseville, on (916) 408-6000, option 5.
- Probate calendar notes appear on the court’s tentative rulings page.
- Local probate rules are Chapter 80.00, Rules 80.1 through 80.5, effective January 1, 2026.
- Probate financial documents under Rule 80.1.8 cannot be e-filed.
- The Clerk-Recorder is in Rocklin and the Assessor is in Auburn.
- A court-confirmed private sale requires at least 90% of an appraisal made within the past year.
Next Steps
Talk with Bart: Book a free 15-minute call. I’ll listen to where you are in the process, look at the property, and tell you your options, including the ones that don’t involve hiring me.
Read the probate sale process: A plain walkthrough from letters to closing, including where a confirmation hearing fits.
Related reading
- Full IAEA authority vs. court confirmation
- Can you sell a house held in a trust without going to court?
- Should you fix up an inherited house or sell it as-is?
- All counties we serve
About the Author
Bart Hubbard is a Realtor with HomeSmart ICARE Realty (DRE #01815497) and a C.A.R. Certified Probate and Trust Specialist who helps families across the greater Sacramento area sell inherited, probate and trust homes. He works alongside probate attorneys, fiduciaries and local vendors to handle pricing, cleanouts, repairs and court-confirmation sales, so executors can focus on their families. More about Bart is on his bio page.
This page is general information, not legal or tax advice. Probate and tax rules depend on your facts. Talk with a California probate attorney or CPA before acting. Figures current as of October 2026.