Estate Planning Attorney Serving Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley

Estate planning in California is not “getting a will.” It is a coordinated package of documents built around one central instrument — usually a revocable living trust — that determines who manages your affairs if you cannot, who makes your medical decisions, and how your assets reach your family without a court proceeding standing in the way.

If you own a home in Los Angeles, you already have an estate plan whether you know it or not. The question is who wrote it. If you have done nothing, the California Probate Code wrote it for you — and its version routes your assets through Los Angeles County Superior Court, freezes them for a year or more, and pays statutory fees to an attorney and an executor out of your family’s inheritance. A complete estate plan replaces that default with your own instructions.

What a Complete California Estate Plan Includes

Revocable Living Trust

The centerpiece. You transfer your assets — your home, your accounts, your investments — into the trust during your lifetime. You keep full control as trustee. When you pass, the assets move to your beneficiaries under the trust’s terms, privately and without probate. Read more about living trusts →

Pour-Over Will

The safety net. Anything you own at death that never made it into the trust “pours over” into it through this will. It also names a guardian for minor children — something only a will can do. Read more about wills →

Durable Power of Attorney for Finances

If you are incapacitated — a stroke, an accident, dementia — someone needs legal authority to pay your bills, manage your accounts, and handle your property. Without this document, your family may need a court-supervised conservatorship to do any of it.

Advance Healthcare Directive

Your medical voice. It names the person who makes healthcare decisions for you when you cannot, and records the treatment you do and don’t want. Read more about powers of attorney and healthcare directives →

A complete plan also includes the supporting documents most people never hear about until they’re missing: HIPAA waivers so your agents can speak with your doctors, certifications of trust so banks will honor the trust without reading the whole document, and property assignments that move personal property into the trust.

Why California Families Need a Trust — Not Just a Will

California probate applies to estates with gross assets over $184,500 (Probate Code § 13100, as of 2024). That number is lower than almost any home in Los Angeles County. If you own real estate here, your estate will almost certainly exceed the threshold — which means a will alone sends your family to probate court, not around it.

California law (Probate Code §§ 10800, 10810) entitles both the probate attorney and the executor to statutory fees based on the gross estate value — not equity, but gross value. On a Los Angeles home worth $900,000 with a $500,000 mortgage, fees are calculated on the full $900,000. The attorney and executor each receive approximately $21,000 — a combined $42,000 minimum, before court costs and other fees. In most cases this is money that comes directly out of what your family inherits.

Beyond the cost, your family cannot access those assets during the probate process. Accounts, real estate, and investments titled in your name are frozen until the court authorizes distribution — a process that typically takes 12 to 24 months in Los Angeles County.

A properly funded revocable living trust eliminates both problems: it avoids probate entirely and allows your successor trustee to begin managing and distributing your assets within weeks of your passing.

Remember the structural difference: probate fees increase with every dollar of estate appreciation. The flat fee for an estate plan does not. Every year your Los Angeles home gains value, the cost of having no plan grows with it.

The Trust Advisor Approach

One attorney handles your entire matter — every conversation, every document, every signature. Your plan is coordinated, not a stack of disconnected forms: the trust, will, powers of attorney, and beneficiary designations are drafted to work together, because a plan that contradicts itself is a plan that invites a dispute.

My CPA background means tax implications are considered from the start, not discovered later. And because I have spent years litigating trust disputes, I draft with the failure points in mind — the ambiguities, the poorly chosen fiduciaries, the ignored family dynamics that turn into contested proceedings.

Estate planning at Trust Advisor is offered at a flat fee for estates below the federal estate tax exemption. You know the cost before you start. Contact me for pricing.

Estate Planning Services

Common Questions

How long does it take to put an estate plan in place?

For most families, two to four weeks from our first conversation to signed documents. The pace is usually set by your schedule, not mine. Funding the trust — retitling your home and accounts — follows signing, and I guide you through each step.

What do I need to bring to the first meeting?

A general picture of what you own — your home, accounts, retirement plans, life insurance, and any business interests — and your thoughts on who you trust to step in for you. You do not need exact statements or final decisions. The first conversation is about understanding your situation.

I already have a will. Isn’t that enough?

For most LA homeowners, no. A will does not avoid probate — it is the document the probate court reads. If your gross estate exceeds $184,500, a will alone means your family still goes through Los Angeles County Superior Court. A funded revocable trust is what keeps them out of it.

What does an estate plan cost?

Trust Advisor charges a flat fee for estate plans below the federal estate tax exemption — the same fee whether your estate is $600,000 or $6 million. The exact fee depends on complexity. Contact us for a quote; you will know the full cost before any work begins.