My father (who was not a citizen of the US or resident of the US and who had all of his assets in another country) recently passed away. He left me two properties. The executor (foreign lawyer) will sell one of the properties soon and put the money into a foreign bank account for me. After that the money is mine to enjoy. I want to bring it to the US and I want to pay all taxes and such on it. I will probably get an accountant eventually but I wanted to understand the roadmap.

Here is what I understand based on amateur research:

1. Once the bank account is set up, I need to declare it on an FBAR.

2. I also need to file a 3520 with the IRS.

3. There is no federal estate tax whatsoever because the decedent and the entire estate is outside of the US. There is no federal estate tax filing requirement either.

4. There is no California estate tax either (because they follow the federal rules).

5. Is there like an FBAR or 3520 for California?

Most importantly, anything else that I need to know? It seems like I'll get all the money without having to pay any tax which seems too good to be true.

I think you've got it right. You have no need to worry about taxes; however, the executor should be on top of whether the estate has to pay any taxes in the country where your father lived and the property is located. Regarding #5: there is no need to declare the money to the state of CA. Also, it's not entirely clear from your post, but I assume that the property is being sold by the estate, as opposed to first passing ownership to you and then your selling it, right?

Yes definitely being sold by the estate. In an odd twist, due to the executor's refusal to give me updates on his work, I actually had to get a lawyer to represent me against the executor and subpoena (and even go to court) to get information on the estate. But it seems like the executor was just being secretive as opposed to dishonest (I hope). The only control I had over the proceedings was that the executor (possibly due to my lawyer's involvement) asked me to agree to the sales price. There are also other heirs who will get a portion of the proceeds.

Finally, re: taxes in the other country I assume the executor has that under control as it's his responsibility I imagine, but I'll double check.