Probate leads: how the list is built and how to use it

How the list is built

A probate leads list starts with a death and ends with a person you can write to. The source is either a probate court filing or an obituary record. The list then matches the decedent to a parcel in county assessor records and attaches the person who now handles the estate.

Probate is the court process used to transfer or inherit property after a death. A judge appoints a personal representative, who collects the property, pays the bills and distributes what remains, according to the California Courts self-help page. When a will names someone, that person is often called the executor. With no will, the court looks first to a spouse or domestic partner, then a child, grandchild, parent and sibling.

Two routes feed a list:

• Filing first. The county probate court case names the decedent, the filing date, the personal representative and usually the attorney of record. This route is later but certain.
• Obituary first. An obituary record gives the name, age and city. The list then looks for a parcel owned by that name. This route is earlier and less certain. Vendors call it pre-probate.

The match step is the weak point. A name like "Robert Smith" can fit many parcels. Good lists confirm with the street address, the city in the obituary, or the age. Lists built only on a name match carry wrong-parcel records.

Why the mailing address differs from the property

The tax mailing address is on file for the dead owner. After a death, that address often goes to a house that is empty. The person who can sell lives somewhere else.

A usable record carries two addresses. The property address is the parcel. The contact address is where the executor or heir lives, taken from the court filing or a later address update. Many contact addresses are out of state, which makes this list overlap with the absentee owner list. If the estate house sits empty, it may also appear on a vacant property list.

Never mail the old tax address and stop there. A letter to the dead owner's name at an empty house reaches no one who can sell.

Filters that matter

Filter	Why it matters
Filing date	Recent filings mean the estate has not settled. Older cases may be closed or sold.
Property type	Single family and small multifamily fit most buyers. Remove land, commercial and parcels held by an entity.
Equity	High equity gives room to negotiate. See the high equity homeowner list.
Out-of-state heir	The heir lives far from the house, so upkeep and distance push toward a sale.
No mortgage	A free-and-clear parcel gives the estate more choices and fewer lender steps.
Sole decedent on title	Joint ownership often passes to the survivor outside probate.
Attorney of record present	Gives a second contact path where public.

Stack two or three, not all seven. Each filter cuts the volume sharply. Run the combination against the absentee owner counts for your state first, to see how small the pool gets.

What a record contains

A record you can act on holds these fields:

• Decedent: name as filed, and date of death where the source gives it.
• Property: situs address, parcel number, property type, last sale date, and estimated value and equity.
• Executor or personal representative: name, role, and mailing address from the filing.
• Attorney of record: name and firm, where the court file is public.
• Case data: court, case number and filing date, for filing-first records.
• Match fields: which signals tied the decedent to the parcel.

Phones and emails are an add-on, not part of the court record. They come from matching the executor's name and address against a national consumer file and carrier line-type data.

What to check before paying

Ask for 25 sample records from your own counties. Then test them.

1. Match confidence. Open three records on the county assessor site. The decedent should be on title, and the address should match.
2. Freshness. Ask the filing date and the date the vendor received it. One vendor guide reports about 1 to 3 months from death to petition, and 3 to 6 months or more after death before third-party lists carry the record. Both figures are vendor guidance.
3. Already sold. Check the county recorder for a deed since the filing date. A sold estate is a dead lead.
4. Source disclosure. Some lists come from court filings. Others come from property records flagged as inherited and are "not scraped from probate court filings directly," as one vendor page says. Know which you are buying.
5. Suppression. Remove records on the DMAchoice Deceased Do Not Contact file, and your own opt-outs.

Price benchmarks

These are published ranges from third-party vendor pages, checked 10/10/2026. They are directional. Terms change, and some pages say volume, term and options set the quote.

Vendor model	Published range	What it includes
Per delivered lead, no subscription	$0.10 per lead	Property-record based, skip tracing included
Monthly subscription	$1.80 standard, $1.30 on 12 months	Death records matched to property records, about five weeks after death; no executor, case number or attorney fields

The two pages differ in method, so the same dollar figure does not buy the same thing. Compare cost per mailable, matched record, not list price. One page notes each lead goes to no more than three subscribers, so ask about exclusivity.

Who uses it and how

Investors mail the executor or heir and offer a fast, as-is purchase. Probate sales can take 6 to 12 months against about two months for a standard sale, per an industry article, published 12/12/2024. Plan for slow closings.

Agents offer to list and manage the sale. The pitch is process help: cleanout, repairs, and a clear timeline.

Estate sale companies and cleanout services contact the executor early, because personal property is handled before the house.

Attorneys use the list to find estates without counsel, subject to state solicitation rules below. Related distress lists include the pre-foreclosure list and the tax delinquent list, which often overlap with older estates.

Tone and timing

Write to a grieving person. Keep the first letter short, handwritten if you can, and free of prices and deadlines. Say you are a local buyer or agent, say you can help if the family wants it, and say no reply is needed.

One vendor guide suggests research only for 0 to 4 weeks, a soft letter at 4 to 8 weeks, a follow-up with useful information at 2 to 3 months, and a direct conversation about options at 3 to 6 months. That is vendor advice, not a standard. Space follow-ups out and stop on the first no. See direct mail prospecting for a full touch sequence.

Compliance notes

Mail is the cleanest channel for this list. No federal telemarketing rule covers a letter, so the main duties are suppression and honesty about who you are. The DMAchoice business FAQ encourages companies to subscribe to its Deceased Do Not Contact file, which it describes as permanent and updated monthly. It also says that file should not replace your own do-not-contact list.

Attorney solicitation is different. ABA Model Rule 7.3 bars live person-to-person solicitation of legal services when a significant motive is pecuniary gain, with limited exceptions. ABA Formal Opinion 501 (04/13/2022) says a lawyer can be responsible when marketing firms, lead generators or others employed or retained by the lawyer make that contact on the lawyer's behalf. The opinion addresses only the Model Rules and says each jurisdiction's own rules control, so a lawyer should read the state bar rule before using this list. Phone and text outreach to heirs follows the usual rules in the lists hub.

No source on this page sets a legal waiting period after a death. Check your state's real estate and bar rules before you rely on a timing assumption.

Next step

Check how many records match your counties and filters with get-counts. Start with a sample of 25 and verify three against the assessor site.

Questions people ask

Q01What is the difference between pre-probate and probate leads?

Pre-probate leads start from a death record or obituary before anyone files in court. Probate leads start from the court filing, which names the personal representative. Pre-probate is earlier and less certain. Filed cases are later but name who has authority to sell.

Q02Why does the mailing address differ from the property address?

The decedent's tax bill usually goes to the decedent. After death, the person handling the estate often lives elsewhere. A good record carries the executor's address from the filing, not only the old tax mailing address. That second address is the one you mail.

Q03Can I get probate leads for free?

Yes, from the probate court. Filings are public in most counties, but formats differ. Some courts have online search and some require a visit. You then match each decedent to a parcel by hand. Paid lists save that matching step, not the court records themselves.

Q04How soon after a death should I contact the family?

One vendor guide suggests research only for the first 4 weeks and a soft letter at 4 to 8 weeks. That is vendor guidance, not a rule. A short, plain letter that offers help and asks for nothing lands better than a price.

Q05Do probate leads include the attorney?

Where the filing is public, the attorney of record appears in the case file. Lists built from filings can carry it; lists built from death records do not. It matters because the attorney often controls timing and may refer a sale. Treat the attorney as a second path to the same estate.

Sources

1. California Courts Self-Help: Probate (what probate is, personal representative, order of priority) (Primary, court)selfhelp.courts.ca.gov
2. ABA Formal Opinion 501 (04/13/2022), lawyer solicitation under Model Rule 7.3 (Primary text, hosted copy)images.law.com
3. DMAchoice business FAQ: Deceased Do Not Contact and Caretaker lists (Industry body)dmachoice.org
4. Vendor pricing page: monthly probate leads, $1.80 standard rate down to $1.30 on 12 months (Vendor-reported, checked 10/10/2026)usleadlist.com
5. Vendor page: $0.10 per delivered lead, property-record based (Vendor-reported, checked 10/10/2026)tracerfy.com
6. Vendor guide: probate timing and outreach schedule (Vendor-reported timing)propertyradar.com
7. Industry article: probate sale timelines and offer deposits (Published 12/12/2024)theclose.com