Cal. PROB § 21623
This is the official text of Cal. PROB § 21623, part of California’s Probate Code — governs wills, trusts, estates, and conservatorships.
Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.
Official statutory text
(a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), in satisfying a share provided by this chapter:
(1) The share will first be taken from the decedent’s estate not disposed of by will or trust, if any.
(2) If that is not sufficient, so much as may be necessary to satisfy the share shall be taken from all beneficiaries of decedent’s testamentary instruments in proportion to the value they may respectively receive. The proportion of each beneficiary’s share that may be taken pursuant to this subdivision shall be determined based on values as of the date of the decedent’s death.
(b) If the obvious intention of the decedent in relation to some specific gift or devise or other provision of a testamentary instrument would be defeated by the application of subdivision (a), the specific devise or gift or provision of a testamentary instrument may be exempted from the apportionment under subdivision (a), and a different apportionment, consistent with the intention of the decedent, may be adopted.
(1) The share will first be taken from the decedent’s estate not disposed of by will or trust, if any.
(2) If that is not sufficient, so much as may be necessary to satisfy the share shall be taken from all beneficiaries of decedent’s testamentary instruments in proportion to the value they may respectively receive. The proportion of each beneficiary’s share that may be taken pursuant to this subdivision shall be determined based on values as of the date of the decedent’s death.
(b) If the obvious intention of the decedent in relation to some specific gift or devise or other provision of a testamentary instrument would be defeated by the application of subdivision (a), the specific devise or gift or provision of a testamentary instrument may be exempted from the apportionment under subdivision (a), and a different apportionment, consistent with the intention of the decedent, may be adopted.
Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site
Dealing with a probate matter in California?
See all California Probate lawyers
About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the
Open US Law dataset
(Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine
(Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.