Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

I assume that your promissory note is unsecured, meaning that you did not take a mortgage, deed of trust, or some form of personal property mortgage as security to the note. You can't get a lien unless you file a lawsuit for breach of contract on the promissory note, after a breach of the promissory note, and obtain a judgment. The estate does not owe you the money, so even if you had the judgment, you couldn't get paid from the estate. You would have to attach assets that he receives.

If you get a court judgment and a Writ of Execution, then you could collect against any assets of his you find. Not until. His being an 'heir' doesn't give you any rights against the estate, until he is entitled to actually be paid something from it.

Mr. Roach is not entirely correct. Both Mr. Roach and Mr. Nelson correctly state that you would have to sue to collect the debt, which would mean payment has to be past due. Once you have the collection action on file, however, and if the estate is in probate, you can ask the court for a writ of attachment on his inheritance. That would then be filed in the probate court and served on the estate administrator. The estate administrator would then be obligated to pay any inheritance into the court in the collection action rather than distribute it to the heir.