(a) To attach the interest of the defendant in personal property in the estate of a decedent, whether the interest arises by testate or intestate succession, the levying officer shall personally serve a copy of the writ of attachment and a notice of attachment on the personal representative of the decedent. The attachment does not impair the powers of the representative over the property for the purposes of administration.
§ 488.485.To Attach Defendant's Interest In Property of Estate of Decedent
Title 6.5. Attachment · Chapter 8. Levy Procedures; Lien of Attachment; Management and Disposition of Attached Property · Article 2. Methods of Levy · Enacted 1982 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 488.485 attaches a defendant's interest in a decedent's estate by personally serving the personal representative, without disturbing the representative's administration powers, and lets the estate court order the property delivered to the levying officer once a distribution decree to the defendant becomes final.
Full Text of § 488.485
(b) The personal representative shall report the attachment to the court in which the estate is being administered when any petition for distribution is filed. If a decree orders distribution to the defendant, the court making the decree shall order the attached property to be deliverd to the levying officer. The property may not be delivered to the levying officer until the decree distributing the propety has become final. To the extent the property delivered to the levying officer is not necessary to satisfy the attachment, it shall be released to the defendant.
(c) Promptly after the property is delivered to the levying officer pursuant to subdivision (b), the levying officer shall serve a notice describing the property on the defendant. Notwithstanding Sections 484.070, 484.350, 484.530, and 485.610, a claim of exemption for the property described in the notice may be made within 10 days after the notice was served on the defendant.
Plain-English Summary
A defendant who stands to inherit or take a distribution from a decedent's estate has an attachable interest, but the estate itself must keep functioning while the levy is pending. Section 488.485 has the levying officer personally serve the writ and notice on the personal representative, without impairing the representative's power to administer the estate's property in the meantime.
The representative must report the attachment to the probate court whenever a petition for distribution is filed. If the court decrees distribution to the defendant, it orders the attached property delivered to the levying officer — but only once that decree becomes final — and releases any excess beyond what the attachment secures back to the defendant. After delivery, the officer must promptly notify the defendant describing the property, and the defendant then gets 10 days from that notice to claim an exemption, a shorter and separate deadline than the ordinary exemption-claim windows in §§ 484.070, 484.350, 484.530, and 485.610.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a plaintiff attach money the defendant is set to inherit from an estate?
Yes. Section 488.485 has the levying officer personally serve the personal representative of the decedent's estate, without interfering with the representative's ongoing administration of the estate.
When does the levying officer receive the inherited property?
Only after the probate court's distribution decree to the defendant becomes final, per § 488.485(b), at which point the court orders the property delivered to the levying officer.
Amendment History
Added by Stats. 1982, Ch. 1198, Sec. 50. Operative July 1, 1983, by Sec. 70 of Ch. 1198.
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
the Deering's California Codes Annotated / vLex. Enacted by the California Legislature.
Last verified July 28, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: attaching an inheritance california writ of attachmentccp 488.485 decedent estate interest levy