AB 2598 compliance checklist for California skilled nursing facilities

Published October 26, 2026

This checklist walks a California skilled nursing facility through Assembly Bill 2598 in the order the statute is written. In Probate Code section 7600.4, “facility” means a skilled nursing facility, using Health and Safety Code section 1250(c). The bill is Chapter 627, Statutes of 2026. It was approved and filed on September 27, 2026, and takes effect January 1, 2027.

Practical notes below are record-keeping aids. The duty is the statute. Read the chaptered text and the bill on leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, and the overview what AB 2598 requires.

Confirm the section applies

Section 7600.4(e) states that the section does not apply to the death of an incarcerated individual in the custody of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Those notifications are governed by Penal Code sections 5022 and 6401.

A health facility that is neither a general acute care hospital nor a skilled nursing facility, and a board and care facility, stay under amended Probate Code section 7600.5 when a person dies without known next of kin: immediate notice to the public administrator of the county where the facility is located.

Name the event

Write down which event the chart concerns.

The person died in the skilled nursing facility. Section 7600.4(a)(1)(A) calls for a reasonable attempt to notify any known next of kin that the person died in the facility.

The body was transferred to a hospital after death. Section 7600.4(a)(1)(B) calls for a reasonable attempt to notify any known next of kin that the hospital is holding the body. Section 7600.4(a)(2)(A) addresses the facility notifying the designated resident representative of the person who died in the facility or has their body transferred to a hospital after death.

The Legislative Counsel’s Digest says a skilled nursing facility meets the requirement if it notifies the resident representative or has the body transferred to a hospital after death. The enacted sentences govern. Before treating a transfer alone as the whole duty, read (a)(1)(B) and (a)(2)(A) with counsel. The hospital holding the body has the attempt in (a)(1)(B).

List known next of kin

Known next of kin means a relative by blood, marriage, or registered domestic partnership, identified to the facility by the person or the person’s representative, or identified by information in the person’s belongings. That is section 7600.4(d)(2) and Health and Safety Code section 1280.7(e).

A working list can note, for each person, that relationship category, how they were identified, and the contact information on hand. Someone important to the resident who is not a relative in that sense falls outside the definition. The designated resident representative is a separate role, with the meaning used in Health and Safety Code section 1599.15(a).

Check the two alternatives

Paragraph (1) of section 7600.4(a) may also be met if:

• The facility notifies the designated resident representative of the person who died in the facility or has their body transferred to a hospital after death.
• The person informed the facility, prior to death and in writing, that they do not want known next of kin notified of their presence or death. The same sentence covers a hospital.

Keep the writing with the record, or note when the resident representative was notified. If one of these paths is how the facility meets paragraph (1), section 7600.4(b) still calls for notice to the county public administrator.

Document the attempt within 72 hours

Section 7600.4(d)(3) defines a reasonable attempt as a documented, good-faith effort to contact any known next of kin within 72 hours of the death, using contact information available at the time. The examples are a telephone conversation or a voicemail and, if available, a text or an email.

For each attempt, the record can show the time of death, the time of the attempt, who was contacted, the contact information used, the method, and the outcome. The statute sets no form. A voicemail is inside the definition. Health and Safety Code section 1280.7(a) measures a civil penalty for failing to make a reasonable attempt until the next of kin has actual knowledge of the death, which is a different sentence. The documentation brief and the law page carry that detail.

Notify the public administrator when the statute says to

Give notice to the public administrator of the county where the facility is located, within two business days of the fact of the death, if after a reasonable attempt the licensee cannot locate any next of kin, or if paragraph (2) is how paragraph (1) was met. Section 7600.4 states that timing without defining “business days,” and it also states the 72-hour period.

Section 7600.4(c) calls for any identifying information the facility has available, including full legal name, Social Security number, driver’s license or other identification, residence at death or last known address, and contact information for known next of kin.

If the notice is not given, section 7600.4(b) makes the facility liable for interment costs incurred by the estate or the county because of the failure, and for loss to the estate or beneficiaries caused by loss, injury, waste, or misappropriation of the decedent’s property because of the failure.

Keep the attempt log, any written direction, any resident-representative note, and a copy of the county notice, with the time it was given.

Section 1280.7(b) measures a civil penalty for failure to notify the public administrator from the fifth business day after the death until notice is given. The notice in section 7600.4(b) remains the two-business-day notice. A licensee may request a hearing within 10 working days of receiving notice of a penalty, under Health and Safety Code section 131071. Amounts are in the administrator FAQ.

Outside this checklist

County filing routines are outside AB 2598. Sections 1250, 1599.15, and 131071 are cross-references. Families can read what AB 2598 means for families.

Next of Kin Notice can hold the attempt record and prepare the county notice from details staff enter. It is in early access and is not yet processing real cases. Questions: hello@nextofkinnotice.com, without patient or family health information.

This is general information about California AB 2598 (Chapter 627, Statutes of 2026), not legal advice. The chaptered bill controls. Hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and families should confirm how the law applies with their own counsel.