The appropriate court in the State and County where the deceased permanently resided at the time of his or her death is usually the court where the probate is processed. A court that handles issues such as these can often be referred to my several different names. For example, in the state of New York, the court that handles probate is called the Surrogate’s Court, while, in the state of California, it is called Superior Court, Probate Division. However, it’s most common for it to be referred to simply as “probate court”.