What California AB 2598 requires of hospitals and skilled nursing facilities
Published October 26, 2026
California AB 2598 (Chapter 627, Statutes of 2026) sets notification duties for general acute care hospitals and skilled nursing facilities after a death. Approved and filed on September 27, 2026, it adds Health and Safety Code section 1280.7 and Probate Code section 7600.4, and amends Probate Code section 7600.5. With no urgency clause and no separate operative date, it takes effect January 1, 2027, under California Constitution article IV, section 8(c)(1).
The official wording is the chaptered text and the bill on leginfo.legislature.ca.gov.
Which licensees
Section 7600.4 addresses the licensee of a general acute care hospital or a skilled nursing facility. In that section, “hospital” has the meaning in Health and Safety Code section 1250(a), and “facility” means a skilled nursing facility under section 1250(c).
If a person dies in the hospital or facility, the licensee makes a reasonable attempt to notify any known next of kin that the person died there. That is section 7600.4(a)(1)(A). If a body is transferred to a hospital after death, the licensee makes a reasonable attempt to notify any known next of kin that the hospital is holding the body. That is section 7600.4(a)(1)(B).
Section 7600.4(e) excludes the death of an incarcerated individual in the custody of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The bill states that those notifications are governed by Penal Code sections 5022 and 6401.
Amended section 7600.5 keeps immediate notice to the county public administrator when a person dies without known next of kin in a health facility other than a general acute care hospital or a skilled nursing facility, or in a board and care facility.
Known next of kin
Section 7600.4(d)(2) and Health and Safety Code section 1280.7(e) use the same definition. Known next of kin means a relative by blood, marriage, or registered domestic partnership, identified to the hospital or facility by the person or the person’s representative, or identified by information in the person’s belongings.
A reasonable attempt
Section 7600.4(d)(3) defines the term:
“Reasonable attempt” means a documented, good-faith effort by the hospital or facility to contact any known next of kin within 72 hours of a person’s death using any contact information available to the hospital or facility at the time, including, but not limited to, speaking to the next of kin via telephone or leaving a voicemail message and, if available, sending a text message or an email to the next of kin.
The period is stated in hours, and the section sets no form or required number of tries. “Business days” appears in the public administrator rules, not in this definition. Building a record around the quote is covered in documenting contact attempts.
Other ways to meet paragraph (1)
Section 7600.4(a)(2) says paragraph (1) 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. “Facility” here means the skilled nursing facility. “Resident representative” has the meaning in Health and Safety Code section 1599.15(a), which the bill incorporates by cross-reference.
Paragraph (1) may also be met if the person, prior to death and in writing, told the hospital or facility that they do not want known next of kin notified of their presence or death. That sentence covers both the hospital and the skilled nursing facility.
The Digest also describes a body transfer to a hospital as meeting the skilled nursing requirement. The enacted text is section 7600.4(a), including the hospital’s attempt in (a)(1)(B) when it holds the body. Read them together before relying on a transfer alone.
County public administrator
Section 7600.4(b) requires notice to the public administrator of the county where the hospital or facility is located when, after a reasonable attempt, the licensee cannot locate any next of kin, or when paragraph (2) is how the duty was met.
Notice is due “within two business days of the fact” of the death in the hospital or facility, or of the death when the hospital is holding the body. The section leaves “business days” undefined and does not say how that period and the 72-hour attempt fit together.
When notice is required, section 7600.4(c) calls for any identifying information the facility has that may help identify the decedent and known next of kin. The examples are full legal name, Social Security number, driver’s license or other identification, residence at the time of death or last known address, and contact information for known next of kin.
If that notice is not given, the hospital or facility is liable for interment costs incurred by the estate or the county as a result, and for loss to the estate or beneficiaries caused by loss, injury, waste, or misappropriation of the decedent’s property as a result.
Civil penalties in section 1280.7
A failure to make the reasonable attempt carries a continuing penalty of $200 for each day, up to $50,000, measured from the time it would take to make a reasonable attempt until the next of kin has actual knowledge of the death. That “actual knowledge” sentence is separate from the definition, which includes a voicemail.
A failure to notify the county public administrator carries $200 for each day, up to $50,000, measured from the fifth business day after the death until the public administrator is notified. The notice itself remains the two-business-day notice in section 7600.4(b). The fifth business day is when section 1280.7(b) starts measuring the penalty.
A licensee may request a hearing within 10 working days of receiving notice of the penalty, under Health and Safety Code section 131071. Section 1280.7(d) preserves other existing civil remedies. The Digest identifies the State Department of Public Health as the licensing agency; section 1280.7 describes a penalty assessed by “the department.”
The SNF checklist, the administrator FAQ, and what AB 2598 means for families start from the same statute with a different question. Questions about these pages: hello@nextofkinnotice.com. Leave patient and family health information out of email.
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.