Los Angeles probate buyer guide
Can I Back Out After I Win a Probate Overbid in California?
The short answer
Yes, you can refuse to close, but not without exposure. After the court confirms your overbid, a buyer who fails to comply with the terms of sale faces Probate Code 10350(a): on the personal representative's petition, the court can vacate the confirmation, order a resale and award damages to the estate (California Probate Code section 10350, checked November 8, 2026).
I am Justin Borges of The Borges Real Estate Team at eXp Realty (DRE #01940318, (213) 262-5092), and I help Los Angeles buyers who have won a probate overbid understand their options before closing, including what refusing to close would set in motion. I work for the buyer only: I advise you while the estate's attorney acts for the estate and your own attorney acts for you, and I did not place the bid you won. What you could owe on a resale is measured in a specific way, so talk to your own attorney before you decide.
What refusing to close would set in motion
Text me where your purchase stands and I will write out, in order, the court steps section 10350 describes for a buyer who does not close.
What happens if I do not close after the court confirms my overbid?
The estate can go back to court to undo your confirmed purchase and put the house up for sale again. In a California probate sale, the Probate Code ties that step to two facts: the court has confirmed the sale, and the purchaser has failed to comply with the terms of sale.
At the hearing your overbid was an offer. Once the court confirmed the sale to you, it became a confirmed purchase, and section 10350 is the part of the Probate Code written for a buyer who then does not finish. The signed order confirming the sale to you is the paper that marks that change. Everything below about a resale, damages, the deposit and a new high bidder starts from that signed order.
If the court orders a resale, notice of it is given as provided for a first sale of the property, and the proceedings after that notice are the same as for a first sale (California Probate Code section 10350, checked November 8, 2026).
Your confirmed terms are the measuring stick. Section 10350(a) applies when a buyer fails to comply with the terms of sale. A buyer whose loan or cash plan has shifted, but who is still meeting every term of sale, has not failed to comply with them (California Probate Code section 10350, checked November 8, 2026).
Text me what changed in your plans and I will tell you whether it is a money, loan or house problem. Text (213) 262-5092
Is backing out the same as the court not confirming?
No: if a California probate court does not confirm your overbid, there is no sale to back out of, so read what happens if the court does not confirm the probate sale you won.
What could I owe the estate if the house resells for less?
You could owe the estate the gap between your contract price and what the house brings on resale, plus two other items the Probate Code lists. Under section 10350(e), the liability arises if the property is resold, so the amount is measured on the resale and no one can state it before that sale happens.
For you, the contract price of the first sale is the confirmed price of your overbid, the figure the signed order states, and the amount paid at the resale is what the resale buyer pays. Of those two figures, only yours is fixed today.
The other two items carry no figure in section 10350(e) at all; the statute names them, as the table below shows, and sets no amount for either.
| Item | What section 10350(e) says |
|---|---|
| Price difference | The difference between the contract price of the first sale and the amount paid by the purchaser at the resale |
| Expenses | Expenses made necessary by the purchaser's breach |
| Consequential damages | Other consequential damages |
The three items Probate Code 10350(e) lists for a defaulting purchaser when the property is resold (California Probate Code section 10350, checked November 8, 2026).
Questions to take to your own attorney
Weighing whether to walk away from the house you won? Call or text me and I will write out the questions to put to your own attorney about resale damages.
What happens to my deposit if I do not close?
Probate Code sections 10350 and 10351 do not say what happens to your deposit if you do not close (California Probate Code section 10350, checked November 8, 2026) (California Probate Code section 10351, checked November 8, 2026).
Your purchase contract may have a paragraph of its own about the deposit. Whether it does, and what it says, is a separate question from those two sections. The receipt you were given when you paid the deposit is the paper that shows the amount.
With no rule in either section, what happens to a deposit on a confirmed probate purchase that does not close varies.
Text me a photo of your deposit receipt and I will match it to your contract's deposit paragraph. Text (213) 262-5092
Can the court confirm the sale to a new high bidder instead?
Yes. Probate Code 10351 lets the court vacate your confirmation and confirm the sale to the new high bidder, as an alternative to a resale (California Probate Code section 10351, checked November 8, 2026).
The petition for this route has to be filed within 60 days after confirmation, and section 10351 does not say who files it. That period is the window for filing the petition, not your deadline to close; the guide on how long it takes to close after a probate overbid covers your own timing. If the second sale's report and petition are not filed in that window, the route that remains is a resale under section 10350.
| Condition | What section 10351(a) requires |
|---|---|
| Your default | The petition shows that you failed to complete the purchase |
| The new bid | A bid in the same or a higher amount, on the same or better terms |
| How the bid was made | In the manner prescribed in the original notice of sale |
| No earlier vacation | The sale has not already been vacated under section 10350 |
Conditions as Probate Code 10351(a) states them (California Probate Code section 10351, checked November 8, 2026).
Does a loan problem let me out?
Not by itself. Probate Code sections 10350 and 10351 and the Judicial Council's DE-265 order form neither create nor remove a financing condition on your purchase (Judicial Council, Order Confirming Sale of Real Property (DE-265/GC-065), checked November 8, 2026). Your loan still moves on your lender's own steps, such as any appraisal it orders on the house.
If your lender needs to get into the house you won for an appraisal visit or anything else, I will arrange that visit through the listing agent and text you the time it is set. See how Justin works probate sales
By a financing condition I mean wording that makes your purchase depend on your loan coming through, such as a lender's approval.
If you are still lining up the loan itself, the guide on how to finance a probate property in California covers the lending side.
Probate Code 10315 is not a financing condition for you either. Section 10315 covers the estate's own sale on credit, where the personal representative takes the purchaser's note for the unpaid balance, secured by a mortgage or deed of trust on the property; it does not address a loan from your own lender, a hard money loan or a financing contingency (California Probate Code section 10315, checked November 7, 2026).
What should I do first if my money or loan starts to wobble?
Tell me, as your agent on this California probate purchase, and tell your lender as soon as you see the problem.
Say what changed and when you first saw it. Your lender is the party that can say where your loan stands.
Then ask your lender to put its answer in writing. A phone call leaves you with your memory of what the loan officer said; a written answer gives you the lender's own words about your loan.
Questions to put to the lender:
- What it still needs from you before it can fund
- Whether the amount it will lend has changed
- Whether it has made a final decision on the loan
- Whether anything it still needs has to come from the house itself
Text me your loan officer's name and I will draft the short message you send. Text (213) 262-5092
The lender comes first because its answer is the one paper you do not have yet. Two others are already in your hands:
- The signed order confirming the sale to you, which is the court's record of what it confirmed
- Your purchase contract, the agreement you signed for the house
Then take the lender's written answer, the signed order, your purchase contract and your questions about them to your own attorney.
Frequently asked questions
If I file written consent to the estate's petition, does the estate still have to give me notice of the hearing?
No. Probate Code 10350(b) sends notice of the hearing, with a copy of the petition, to the buyers and brokers named in the order confirming sale, but notice need not be given to a defaulting purchaser whose written consent to the petition is filed with the court before the hearing ( California Probate Code section 10350, checked November 8, 2026 ).
Can I cancel because I found a problem with the house after the hearing?
Not under Probate Code 10350 or 10351, which give no right to cancel for a house problem found after the hearing; whether your terms or other law give you a remedy varies. The guide on evaluating a probate overbid without an inspection covers judging a house before a bid.
Text me the address and I will pull the City of Los Angeles permit history for the house, so you can see whether the problem you found shows in the city's record. Text (213) 262-5092
Is the deposit shown on the petition mine?
No. The Report of Sale and Petition for Order Confirming Sale of Real Property (DE-260/GC-060) records the amount bid and the deposit of the original buyer whose bid was returned to court ( Judicial Council, Report of Sale and Petition for Order Confirming Sale of Real Property (DE-260/GC-060), checked November 8, 2026 ).
Can I back out because the court allowed less commission than my bid said?
No. Under Probate Code 10166, the court's acceptance of your bid binds you even if the court allows less compensation to a broker than a condition in your bid specified ( California Probate Code section 10166, checked November 8, 2026 ). The guide on who pays commissions and closing costs in a Los Angeles probate court confirmation sale covers how the court sets that figure.
Can I assign my confirmed purchase to someone else?
Probate Code 10350 and 10351 do not address assignment, and the DE-265 order confirms the sale to the buyer it names, with that buyer's manner of vesting title ( Judicial Council, Order Confirming Sale of Real Property (DE-265/GC-065), checked November 8, 2026 ).
Your assignment questions, written out
Text me and I will write out your assignment questions for your own attorney.
Sources
- California Probate Code section 10350, California Probate Code (california.public.law). Checked November 8, 2026.
- California Probate Code section 10351, California Probate Code (california.public.law). Checked November 8, 2026.
- Order Confirming Sale of Real Property (DE-265/GC-065), Judicial Council of California (courts.ca.gov). Checked November 8, 2026.
- California Probate Code section 10315, California Probate Code (california.public.law). Checked November 7, 2026.
- Report of Sale and Petition for Order Confirming Sale of Real Property (DE-260/GC-060), Judicial Council of California (courts.ca.gov). Checked November 8, 2026.
- California Probate Code section 10166, California Probate Code (california.public.law). Checked November 8, 2026.
About the author
Justin Borges
REALTOR® | CA DRE #01940318
Justin writes LA Metro Home Finder’s guides to 30+ communities across the San Gabriel Valley, Northeast LA, and greater Los Angeles, and has closed $200M+ in career sales with a 106% average list-to-sale ratio.
Justin has held an active California DRE salesperson license since October 2013. View Justin’s author profile.
This guide is educational and is not legal, tax, title, lending, or insurance advice. Contract forms, statutes, and lender rules change. Confirm the terms that apply to your sale with your escrow officer, title officer, lender, or a California real estate attorney.
