Frequently Asked Questions

A will only takes effect after death and is administered through the probate court — it does not avoid probate. A trust can take effect during your lifetime, is managed by a trustee you choose, and — if properly funded (meaning your assets are actually retitled into it) — can avoid probate for those assets entirely. Many complete estate plans use both: a funded living trust as the main vehicle, and a simple backup will to catch anything left outside the trust.

We’ll talk through your family situation, your assets, and what you’re trying to accomplish — avoiding probate, providing for minor children, protecting a beneficiary, planning for incapacity, or something else. From there, we’ll explain which documents and strategies fit your situation and what the process and cost would look like. There’s no obligation to move forward afterward.

Estate planning isn’t only about large estates. A basic plan — a will or trust, a durable power of attorney, and a healthcare directive — determines who makes decisions for you if you’re incapacitated and who’s responsible for your affairs and any minor children if you die, regardless of estate size. Without these documents, California default rules (or a court proceeding) decide for you, which often isn’t what someone would have chosen for themselves.

It depends entirely on what your plan needs to include — a simple will-based plan costs less than a plan built around a funded living trust with more complex provisions. We’ll give you a clear cost estimate during your free consultation once we understand your specific situation, rather than a generic number that may not apply to you.

Review your plan after any major life change: marriage, divorce, the birth or adoption of a child, the death of a named executor/trustee/agent, a significant change in assets, or a move to a different state (since estate planning rules vary by state). Even without a major event, it’s reasonable to review a plan every few years to make sure it still reflects your wishes.

Probate is the court-supervised process of validating a will (or applying default succession rules if there’s no will), paying debts, and distributing assets to heirs. In California, it commonly takes a year or more, involves statutory fees based on the gross value of the estate, and the proceedings become part of the public record. This is a major reason many people build their estate plan around a funded living trust instead.

Online templates can produce a document, but they can’t evaluate your specific situation — whether your trust needs to be funded correctly, whether a will meets California’s witnessing requirements, or whether your family circumstances call for provisions a generic template doesn’t include. We regularly see problems in DIY plans that only surface after it’s too late to fix them — during probate or incapacity, when the family is already dealing with a difficult situation. A free consultation can tell you honestly whether your situation needs more than a template.