The Fresno Probate Examiner’s Office is Broken

I appear before the probate court is several counties. In Madera County, and in Tulare County, and in Kings County, the judge signs the probate order at the bench when the hearing is finished. As a result, the signed order is available in less than 24 hours.

But not in Fresno County. Here, all orders go to the probate examiner’s desk for review. Even if you submit your order before the hearing (which I almost always do), the all-powerful probate examiner decides whether the client obtains the order, and when.

Case in point. Simple probate, one asset passing solely to the surviving spouse. The petition to distribute the estate was heard on June 8, 2026. The order was submitted on December 5, 2025. Yet here we are, on August 11, 2026, and the order still has not been approved by the probate examiner. The client keeps calling to ask for his order. We keep checking with the clerk. Nothing done, after more than two months.

This is intolerable. Even more, it’s an embarrassment for both the bench and bar. Our probate judge is doing everything in his power to move cases along. But we are all stymied by the interminable backlog in the probate examiner’s office. The answer of “We need more help at the court” is what we’ve been told for five years. Nothing has changed.

But other counties can make it work. Just not Fresno. All practitioners wonder why. No one will provide an answer.

Unbelievable – It now takes 45 days to obtain an Ex Parte Petition for Final Discharge and Order in Fresno County

The probate clerk’s office for Fresno County Superior Court is broken. We submitted an Ex Parte Petition for Final Discharge and Order for filing on February 11, 2026. This is a standard Judicial Council form. There were two beneficiaries. Both signed a receipt of distributee, and the receipts were attached to the petition.

We told the clerk that time was of the essence. The probate bond was coming up for renewal, and we needed the order entered promptly to avoid the renewal charge for the probate bond.

The Order was signed and entered on March 26, 2026. It’s not the judge’s fault – we know that he is a hard worker. Someone in the clerk’s office failed to timely process the filing, which cost the estate hundreds of dollars in additional bond costs.

Other counties (Madera, Kings, and Tulare) return these orders in seven days or less. It’s time for a leadership change in the probate department in Fresno County, because this delay is unacceptable.

190 days to get a hearing for probate distribution in Fresno Superior Court – getting worse

Part of a continuing update regarding the time needed to obtain a hearing in the Fresno Probate Court.

We just filed a petition for distribution from a decedent’s estate, all cash, two heirs. Filed on April 1, 2025, set for hearing October 8, 2025 (190 days).

Here is a history of the time to get a hearing on a petition for distribution in Fresno County probate court:

Date filedHearing DateNumber of Days for Hearing
October 3, 2019November 18, 201946 days
February 21, 2020April 30, 202052 days
November 12, 2020February 1, 202181 days
August 3, 2021November 17, 2021106 days
February 28, 2022June 8, 2022100 days
February 7, 2023July 3, 2023146 days
March 1, 2024May 23, 202483 days
December 10, 2024May 13, 2025154 days
January 21, 2025July 9, 2025169 days
April 1, 2025October 8, 2025190 days

More than six months to get approval to make a distribution from a probate estate. Frustrating for clients and everyone else.

Unpublished policy from the Fresno County Probate Court Investigator’s Office

We recently filed a petition for guardianship of a minor. The grandmother requested guardianship of the person of her grandson. The minor’s father had died, and the 8-year-old minor was living with his mother in Fresno. Our client had substantial contact with the minor before his father died, but was cut off from all contact by the child’s mother. (The parents had filed for divorce, however, the father died before a divorce judgment was granted.)

As required by law, the court investigator spoke with the parties. The investigator then informed the court in a written report, “When a child is not in the care of the petitioner, it is not our policy to recommend a guardianship.”

To my knowledge, this local policy is unpublished and is not part of the Local Rules of court, but it is cited as authority by the investigator’s office.

169 days to get a hearing for probate distribution in Fresno Superior Court

Part of a continuing update regarding the time needed to obtain a hearing in the Fresno Probate Court.

We just filed a petition for distribution from a decedent’s estate, all cash, three heirs. Filed on January 21, 2025, set for hearing July 9, 2025 (169 days).

What was it like in the past? We filed a petition for distribution on October 3, 2019 and received a hearing date of November 18, 2019 (46 days).

Right before COVID? We filed a petition for distribution on February 21, 2020 and received a hearing date of April 30, 2020 (52 days).

Right after COVID? We filed a petition for distribution on November 12, 2020 and received a hearing date of February 1, 2021 (81 days).

During 2021? We filed a petition for distribution on August 3, 2021 and received a hearing date of November 17, 2021 (106 days).

During 2022? We filed a petition for distribution on February 28, 2022 and received a hearing date of June 8, 2022 (100 days).

During 2023? We filed a petition for distribution on February 7, 2023 and received a hearing date of July 3, 2023 (146 days).

During 2024? We filed a petition for distribution on March 1, 2024 and received a hearing date of May 23, 2024 (83 days). Nice improvement, but not long lasting.

Later that year we filed a petition for distribution on December 10, 2024 and received a hearing date of May 13, 2025 (154 days).

Now we are up to 169 days to obtain a hearing for distribution from a probate estate. Very frustrating for our clients.

U.S. Imports Millions of Tons of Used Cooking Oil to Make Biodiesel Fuels

California is the largest consumer of alternative diesel fuels in the United States. A recent study published by the University of California Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics discusses U.S. imports of used cooking oil. The authors explain as follows:

“Clean fuel programs like California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard have driven a boom in the consumption of biodiesel and renewable diesel, called BBDs. These policies have resulted in BBDs attaining a 70% market share in the California diesel market.

“Biodiesel is made from vegetable oils, beef tallow, and used cooking oil (UCO). The emissions of used cooking oil are around 50% less than soybean oil, the primary crop-based feedstock for biodiesel in California.

“The U.S. production of byproduct feedstocks cannot easily increase to meet rising biofuel demand. As a result, renewable fuel producers are importing millions of metric tons of used cooking oil from Asian countries to meet this demand.

“Imports of used cooking oil account for approximately 40% of U.S. consumption. U.S. imports of used cooking oil have surged dramatically in recent years, rising from negligible levels to over 1.4 million metric tons in 2023.

“These imports are valued at over $1.6 billion. China is the dominant supplier, accounting for over half of U.S. imports. China’s used cooking oil exports have grown at an unrelenting pace, averaging more than 30% annualized growth over the past five years.

“Demand from clean fuel programs has been so strong that the price of used cooking oil has frequently exceeded the price of virgin crop oils in UCO-exporting countries. (Virgin vegetable oils like soybean oil are associated with comparatively higher emissions than byproduct feedstocks.) Industry leaders and policy makers are concerned that used cooking oil collectors could be mixing in cheaper palm oil to boost their sales.

“Chinese policymakers suddenly ended the export tax credits for used cooking oil in mid-November 2024 to boost their domestic biofuel production and possibly limit government expenditures. Thus, policies that support Asian UCO could face an uncertain future.”

Swanson, Andrew, Shawn Arita and Joseph Cooper. “Controversies Surrounding U.S. Imports of Used Cooking Oil for Biofuel Production”
Agricultural and Resource Economics Update (Nov/Dec 2024) Vol. 28, No. 2. University of California Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics.
https://giannini.ucop.edu/filer/file/1734628708/21199/

Fresno Probate Court – The New Normal

We recently filed a Petition to Determine Succession to Real Property in Madera County and one in Fresno County.

The Madera case was submitted for filing on October 2, 2024. The assigned hearing date for the Madera case is November 18, 2024.

It takes 47 days to get a probate hearing in Madera.

On the exact same type of matter in Fresno, we submitted the petition for filing on September 30, 2024. The assigned hearing date for the Fresno case is February 20, 2025.

It takes 141 days to get a probate hearing in Fresno. A delay of more than three months over the Madera court.

This is the new normal for Fresno.

It takes four months to get a real estate sale approved in Fresno Probate Court

On August 14, 2024, my office filed a petition to approve the sale of a house in a probate estate. The sale cannot proceed until we get court approval.

Which will be a long time coming, because the assigned hearing date is December 11, 2024. That’s a four-month delay. Most buyers won’t wait that long, so its a major problem for Fresno probate cases.

We are now one of the slowest probate courts in the Valley. It used to be Kern County, but the Fresno probate department has taken the thorny crown.

Fresno probate court experiences further delays

The Fresno probate court was formerly very prompt. You could submit a petition and receive a hearing date within six to eight weeks. Everything moved right along.

Not now. On February 7, 2023, we filed a petition to distribute an estate to two heirs. The heirs waived the accounting, and the estate is all cash, half to each brother. The probate court set the hearing for July 3, 2023. That’s a five-month delay in the Fresno probate court to get a hearing on a simple petition for distribution.

Meanwhile, we filed a similar petition, on the same day, in the Madera probate court. We received a hearing date of March 16, 2023, which is five weeks out. The Madera probate court is a model of efficiency, and we appreciate it greatly.