Form DE-120, Notice of Hearing—Decedent's Estate or Trust

Notice of Hearing—Decedent's Estate or Trust (Form DE-120) is the Judicial Council of California form that gives notice of a court hearing on a filing in a decedent's estate or trust matter. It names who filed, describes the filing and states the hearing date, time and place.

The form is adopted for mandatory use and cites Probate Code sections 1211, 1215, 1220, 1230, 12201, 17100 and 17203. Its printed notice tells the reader that the notice is required by law, that appearing in court is not required, that the reader may attend the hearing and object or respond, and that if no one responds or attends, the court may act on the filing without them.

Item 1 identifies the person giving notice, their fiduciary or representative capacity if any, and the complete title and a brief description of the petition, application, report or account. A box marks a filing that is a report of the status of a decedent's estate administration under Probate Code section 12200; the form's NOTICE then states the right to petition for an accounting under section 10950 of the Probate Code. Item 2 gives the hearing details.

Page 2 adds a Clerk's Certificate of Posting and a Proof of Service by Mail. The form is not a substitute for three other forms: DE-121 for notice of a petition to administer an estate, GC-020 for a hearing in a guardianship or conservatorship case, and DE-115/GC-015 for a hearing on a petition to determine a claim to property.

The main users are people who file a paper in court relating to a decedent's estate or a trust and must tell all interested persons about the date, time and place of the hearing on it. That includes a fiduciary or representative filing a petition, application, report or account; item 1 has a line for the capacity in which that person acts. An attorney or a party without an attorney completes the heading.

Other people handle parts of page 2. A clerk of the court completes the Clerk's Certificate of Posting. Any person who is over 18, is not a party to the case, and lives or works in the county where the mailing occurred completes and signs the Proof of Service by Mail.

Do not use Form DE-120 in these situations, as the form itself states:

• notice of a petition to administer an estate: use form DE-121 (Probate Code, § 8100);
• notice of a hearing in a guardianship or conservatorship case: use form GC-020 (Probate Code, §§ 1511 and 1822);
• notice of a hearing on a petition to determine a claim to property: use form DE-115/GC-015 (Probate Code, § 851);
• proof of personal service: the proof of service on this form covers mailing only; form DE-120(P) may be used to prove personal service.

People who receive the notice are not required to appear in court.

Use Form DE-120 when you file a petition, application, report or account in an estate or trust case that is set for a hearing, because interested persons must be told the date, time and place of that hearing. The form prints no separate deadline; the timing of notice follows the Probate Code provisions cited on the form and the hearing date the court sets.

The Proof of Service by Mail records the date and place of mailing (item 4), so complete it once the mailing has actually happened. The Clerk's Certificate of Posting records the address and date of posting and is completed by the clerk.

For readers who need an accommodation at the hearing, the form says assistive listening systems, computer-assisted real-time captioning or sign language interpreter services are available if requested at least five days before the hearing.

Form DE-120 is a notice, so it reaches interested persons through service and posting rather than through a single filing address. The form prints no mailing address or portal for it; the court named at the top of the form is the court handling the case.

• By mail: enclose a copy of the notice in an envelope addressed to each person named on page 2 and mail it with prepaid postage through the U.S. Postal Service or the business's ordinary mailing practice. Item 5 of the proof of service states that a copy of the petition or other document described in item 1 was served with the notice. Then complete and sign the Proof of Service by Mail.
• By personal service: this form's proof of service does not cover it. Form DE-120(P) may be used to prove personal service.
• By posting: the Clerk's Certificate of Posting is completed by a clerk, who certifies the address and date where a copy was posted.

If more than five people were mailed the notice, continue the list on an attachment; form DE-120(MA)/GC-020(MA) may be used. Ask the court clerk's office about local filing and hearing details. FillingPDF lets you fill out and download the PDF; submission follows the channels above.