What does a seller have to disclose in California?

California requires more of sellers than almost any other state. The two statutory forms are the Transfer Disclosure Statement and the Natural Hazard Disclosure; on top of those sit lead paint for pre-1978 homes, the Megan’s Law notice, deaths on the property within three years, water-conserving fixtures, and smoke and carbon-monoxide compliance. Trust and probate sales are exempt from the two statutory forms — but the exemption is far narrower than most families assume, and it never excuses failing to disclose something you know.

The list

What	Where it comes from	Applies to
Transfer Disclosure Statement (TDS)	Civil Code §§1102–1102.19	One to four residential units, statewide
Natural Hazard Disclosure (NHD)	Civil Code §§1103–1103.14	Statewide
Lead-based paint	Federal — 42 U.S.C. §4852d	Homes built before 1978
Megan’s Law notice	Civil Code §2079.10a	In the contract, statewide
Death on the property	Civil Code §1710.2	Within three years
Water-conserving fixtures	Civil Code §1101.4	Single-family built before 1994
Smoke alarms	Health & Safety Code §13113.8	Statewide
Carbon monoxide devices	Health & Safety Code §17926	Where there is a fuel appliance, fireplace or attached garage
Fire hardening	Civil Code §1102.6f	High or very high fire hazard zones — the Palo Alto foothills, not the flatlands
Seller Property Questionnaire (SPQ)	No statute — a contract form	Required because the purchase agreement requires it

That last row matters. The SPQ is not required by California law. It is a standard form that becomes binding because the purchase agreement says so, and its practical job is to surface the things the TDS’s narrow checkboxes miss. Skipping it is not a legal shortcut; it is removing the document most likely to protect you.

The trust and probate exemption, and what it does not do

This is the part that catches families selling an inherited house.

Sales by a fiduciary administering a trust, a conservatorship or a decedent’s estate are exempt from the TDS and the NHD, as are court-ordered probate sales (Civil Code §1102.2(b) and (d)).

Then comes the sentence that swallows the common case. The trust exemption does not apply where the trustee is a natural person who is a former owner of the property, or who lived in it within the past year.

An adult child who moved in to care for a parent and is now the successor trustee is squarely outside the exemption. So is a child who was ever on title. That is not an edge case — it is the most common shape an inherited Palo Alto sale takes.

And even where the exemption does apply, it only relieves you of the forms. It does not touch:

your duty to disclose material facts you actually know about
the Megan’s Law notice, or lead paint, or the water-fixtures disclosure
smoke alarm and carbon monoxide compliance
deaths on the property inside three years

Exempt sellers normally deliver an Exempt Seller Disclosure instead, which asks the same substantive question in fewer words: what do you know?

Three rules that decide most disputes

Three years, on a death. No duty to disclose a death on the property more than three years before the buyer’s offer, and never a duty to disclose that someone had HIV or died of AIDS-related complications. But the statute gives no protection at all to an owner who lies in answer to a direct question. If you are asked, answer honestly regardless of the date.

Negligence is enough. Under Civil Code §1102.13, a failure to comply does not unwind the sale — but anyone who willfully or negligently fails to perform a disclosure duty is liable for the buyer’s actual damages. You do not have to have meant to hide anything.

Repairs do not erase history. Fixing the thing does not remove the duty to say it happened. A roof that leaked and was replaced is still a roof that leaked, and disclosing it alongside the invoice is a far stronger position than having a buyer’s inspector find the evidence.

The practical version

Write down everything you know about the house — including the things you are certain do not matter. Then disclose all of it.

Sellers lose these arguments over small items they judged unimportant, not over large ones they concealed. A disclosed defect is a negotiation. An undisclosed one is a claim, and it arrives after the money has been spent.

Not legal advice

Maggie is a listing agent, not a lawyer. The code sections above are current as of September 2026 and are cited so you can read them yourself or hand them to someone who should. What applies to your house — particularly in a trust or probate sale — is a question for your attorney, and on an inherited property it is worth the hour.