ESTATE PLANNING – WILLS & TRUSTS
PROBATE & TRUST ADMINISTRATION
BUSINESS PLANNING & FORMATION
“My goal is to make the entire experience, from start to finish, as enjoyable and stress-free as possible.”
Services
CERTIFICATE OF INDEPENDENT REVIEW
This is a service to people who have an estate planning attorney that has drafted their plan, and now need a Certificate of Independent Review to validate changes made to that plan that might otherwise be invalid under California Probate Code Section 21350.
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Estate Planning
Most Estate plans are executed through wills, revocable trusts, advanced health care directive, power of attorney, and many other important legal documents that will ensure you and your loved ones are covered for any and all planned, or unplanned, events in your lives.
Almost everyone needs some kind of estate planning to ensure that you have designated who can make healthcare decisions when you are unable, or who will receive your favorite furniture or jewelry if something happens to you. This is particularly true if you own property or have children.
Our office utilizes the Wealthcounsel® drafting system, a state-of-the-art software that integrates all current law and provides the most effective and high-quality estate planning techniques and options to ensure your estate plan is the most effective, efficient and smooth to meet your wishes, and save you and your loved ones time and from the difficulty and anguish these matters can present.
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It can be very difficult to handle the death of a loved one. We will help with you with the practical reality of what needs to be done and when. Whether there is a plan in place or not, we will assist with your task to handle the estate of someone who has left you in charge.
Probate & Estate Administration
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If there is a will, or no legal documents reflecting the last wishes, then filing for probate will be required to distribute assets to the legal beneficiaries. The Petition for Probate is filed in the county where the deceased resided and the process can take approximately 12-18 months. An estate with no real property and limited value may qualify for a Summary Probate Petition, which is a less expensive and shorter process than a full probate proceeding.
Probate
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If there is a Trust in place, our office will assist the designated Trustee to establish any necessary successor trusts, and distribute the Trust according to its terms. Most of the time, no additional court-filings or probate is necessary if there is a Trust.
The legal process of going through probate in order to administer an estate to the heirs can take over a year. If there is a Trust in place, probate can be avoided. If there is a will, or no estate plan, and the value of the estate is more than $150,000, then probate is required. The attorney’s fees are paid at the conclusion of the probate process and are based on the value of the estate under the California probate code.
Trust Administration
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In the event that assets are not titled in the Trust at the time of death, we can help you. This situation can often be cured by filing a Section 850 Petition, also known as a Heggstad Petition, which allows for assets to be funded into the trust through a petition action, thereby avoiding the need to file a much longer probate action in order for those assets to be granted to the proper beneficiaries. Contact us to find out more.
Heggstad Petition
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