Practical guidance on California estate planning, trusts, probate, and trust administration — written for Los Angeles families.
Probate in Los Angeles County takes a minimum of nine months. In practice, 12 to 18 months is typical. Contested matters can take years. If you came to this page for the short answer, that’s it. The rest of this article explains where those months go — and what your family experiences while they pass. … Read more
Almost every estate planning conversation starts with death — who gets the house, who gets the accounts, what happens to the kids. This article is about something different, and statistically more likely to come first: incapacity. What happens if you are alive but unable to manage your own affairs? A stroke. A car accident. A … Read more
Someone you love has died, and somewhere in their trust your name appears as successor trustee. You are grieving, you are busy with arrangements, and you have just inherited a legal role you never trained for. Most successor trustees are spouses, adult children, or siblings — ordinary people who didn’t ask for the job. Take … Read more
“My family will figure it out. They’ll be able to handle it without court, right?” I hear some version of this regularly. The honest answer: if you die owning a Los Angeles home in your own name without a trust, your family will not handle it without court. They legally cannot. Let’s look at what … Read more
The question usually arrives a few months after escrow closes. You own a home in Los Angeles now. Someone — a lender, a CPA, a friend at dinner — mentions that you should “put the house in a trust.” And you think: I have a will. Isn’t that enough? For most Los Angeles homeowners, no. … Read more
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