Releasing money from an estate typically takes 6 to 18 months, but can range from a few months for simple cases to over a year or more for complex estates, especially with probate, debts, taxes, or disputes, with California often taking 12-18 months due to specific laws. The executor must inventory assets, pay debts, handle taxes, and potentially navigate probate court before final distribution, with partial payments sometimes made earlier.
III) Settling Creditor Claims and Taxes (6-12 Months)
In California, creditors have four months from the issuance of the date letters to file claims against a decedent's estate. All outstanding debts and taxes must be paid before the beneficiaries can be paid.
The estate is distributed
After probate is granted, debts are assessed, and all owes are compensated, then the beneficiaries can start to receive their inheritance. The distribution itself can also take time, sometimes between 3 to 6 months, in fact.
Cash distributions are typically sent via check or wire transfer. Investment assets may be transferred directly to a beneficiary's brokerage account in-kind or liquidated. Real estate or personal property may require additional legal work before ownership is transferred.
Typically, the estate will pay any estate tax owed, with the beneficiaries receiving assets from the estate free of income taxes (see exception for retirement assets in the chart below). As a beneficiary, if you later sell or earn income from inherited assets, there may be income tax consequences.
Within 2 weeks is the average time it will take for a bank to release money. This will only occur after they have a Grant of Probate and the process has been completed.
Generally, receiving an inheritance (cash, property, investments) isn't taxable income for the recipient at the federal level in the U.S., but you pay taxes on any income the inheritance generates after you receive it (like interest or dividends), and some states have their own estate or inheritance taxes. The biggest exception is inheriting pre-tax retirement accounts (like traditional IRAs or 401(k)s), where distributions are taxed as ordinary income for the beneficiary.
Simple estates might be settled within six months. Complex estates, those with a lot of assets or assets that are complex or hard to value can take several years to settle. If an estate tax return is required, the estate might not be closed until the IRS indicates its acceptance of the estate tax return.
Debts before heirs. The most important thing to understand is that you must pay the estate's debts before you distribute anything to the heirs. And debt doesn't just mean credit card bills or mortgage payments from before the deceased died. Debt also includes any money the estate owes currently.
By waiting ten months, the executor has the chance to see whether anyone is going to raise an objection. There are six months from the date of the Grant of Probate in which to commence a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. Then a further four months in which to serve the claim.
You can expect to receive inheritance money anywhere from a few months to over a year, with simple estates often settling in 6-12 months, while complex ones with taxes, disputes, or many assets might take years, depending heavily on probate/trust administration, asset types, and creditor claims. After the court grants probate (if needed), final distribution often takes another 3-6 months, but this varies greatly.
Most estates are finalised within 9 to 12 months, and it may take longer if: there are complex issues. the Will is contested.
Court Backlogs: Probate courts handle a high volume of cases. Limited staffing and rising estate filings can create a probate backlog that extends case timelines significantly. Disputed Wills or Claims: If family members contest a will or creditors file claims, the process pauses until the dispute is resolved.
California probate law ensures that creditors are paid in a specific order: administrative costs first, then secured debts, funeral and medical expenses, taxes, and finally general unsecured debts. Following this order helps the process stay fair and predictable, even when the estate can't cover everything.
You're typically notified as a beneficiary by the estate's executor via formal written notice during probate, but sometimes informally by family; for life insurance, the company tries to track you down after being notified of the policyholder's death, though it's best to know beforehand, ideally if the policyholder told you. Banks won't give information until the account holder dies, as you have no legal interest beforehand.
Estates sometimes have to pass through probate court before they can be distributed. Also, sometimes it takes a long time to wrap up the deceased person's affairs. But once the time is right, the executor will either transfer the property to you or write you a check in the amount of the inheritance.
Settling an estate takes an average of 16 months, according the software company EstateExec, and the settlement process requires an average of roughly 570 hours of work on the part of the executor.
Funds are typically released after probate within 6 to 12 months, depending on whether there is a property to be sold. So, beneficiaries shouldn't expect any funds straight after the executor has applied for probate.
In 2025, the first $13,990,000 of an estate is exempt from federal estate taxes, up from $13,610,000 in 2024. Estate taxes are based on the size of the estate. It's a progressive tax, just like the federal income tax system. This means that the larger the estate, the higher the tax rate it is subject to.