A living trust (sometimes called a revocable living trust) is a legal arrangement created during a person’s lifetime that holds property under a written trust document. The person who creates it can usually manage the property and change the trust while they’re alive. When they die, a named successor trustee takes over management and distribution of the trust’s property, according to the trust’s instructions.
Why it matters
If a house was properly transferred into a living trust before the owner died, that house generally doesn’t go through probate — the successor trustee can typically manage and sell it under the trust’s terms instead. That’s a meaningfully different process from probate, with different documents and a different authority chain. Confirming whether a house was actually and legally titled in the trust — not just intended to be — is a question for your attorney and the title records.
General California probate and trust real-estate education. Not legal, tax, title, appraisal, or court advice. Talk with a qualified professional about your situation.