Estate Planning and Probate for Paramount, California Residents
A useful starting point is to identify whether you are planning for your own future, managing a trust after someone’s death, or handling an estate that may require probate. Codi M. Dada Law Office P.C. has one in-person office in Novato and provides virtual services throughout California.
First decide which situation you are addressing
If you are planning while alive, consider how your will, any trust, financial authority and health-care decisions fit together. The right combination depends on your goals and circumstances; an estate plan is not simply a choice between a will and a trust.
After a death, the key question is how the relevant documents and ownership of the assets affect administration. Some matters involve a trustee administering a trust; others may involve formal probate. These are different processes, and the answer depends on the documents and assets involved.
Planning documents address different decisions
A will records instructions for matters addressed through a will. A revocable living trust is another planning tool, and a pour-over will is a distinct document that may be considered alongside a trust. Discuss what each document is intended to do in your situation rather than assuming one replaces the other.
Health-care planning and financial authority address different subjects. Advance health-care directives, living wills and health-care powers of attorney concern health-care decisions; a financial power of attorney concerns financial authority. Naming the people involved and discussing the decisions you want them to make can help clarify what you need to plan.
Trust administration and probate are not interchangeable
When a trust is involved after a death, the documents and ownership of assets help determine whether trust administration is appropriate. Formal probate is a separate court process, and its relevance also depends on those documents and assets. A trust does not, by itself, guarantee that probate will be avoided.
For a specific matter, gather the available will and trust documents and a general list of assets and how they are owned. Those details help frame the question to discuss: is the next step trust administration, formal probate, or further review of the documents and assets?
Prepare for a remote consultation
Before meeting remotely, collect any existing estate-planning documents, a basic asset list and your questions. Note which assets appear to be held individually or in a trust if you know; do not guess when ownership is unclear. For planning, write down who you are considering for financial and health-care roles and the decisions you want to address.
If you are contacting the firm after a death, note whether you are acting as a trustee, named executor or another family member, and gather the documents you have. These are practical ways to organize the discussion, not a determination that a particular document or process is legally required.
Choose a focused next step
The firm’s related services cover different needs: wills, pour-over wills and revocable living trusts; financial powers of attorney and health-care planning; trust administration and probate administration; and more specialized topics such as business succession, charitable, pet, special-needs, asset-protection and irrevocable trusts, gift-tax planning, ancillary probate, and executor or trustee services.
You do not need to pursue every option. Start with the decision you are facing, the documents you have, and what remains unclear. For Paramount residents, virtual service is available statewide; the firm’s in-person office is in Novato.
Explore the service you need
- Advance Healthcare Directives and Living Wills
- Ancillary Probate
- Asset Protection Trusts
- Business Succession Planning
- Charitable Trusts
- Executor and Trustee Services
- Financial Power of Attorney
- Gift Tax Planning
- Healthcare Power of Attorney
- Irrevocable Trusts
- Pet Trusts
- Pour-Over Wills
- Probate Administration
- Revocable Living Trusts
- Special Needs Trusts
- Trust Administration
- Wills
Questions to discuss
Does having a trust mean my estate will not go through probate?
Not necessarily. Whether trust administration or formal probate is relevant depends on the documents and ownership of the assets. A trust alone does not guarantee probate will be avoided.
What should I have ready for a remote estate-planning consultation?
Gather any existing will or trust documents, a basic list of assets and any known information about how they are owned. Write down your questions and, if planning, the financial and health-care roles or decisions you want to discuss. If the matter follows a death, include your role and any documents you have.
Official resources
- California planning and administration resource
- California planning and administration resource
- Official Los Angeles County court resource
General information, not an assessment of your documents or circumstances. Codi M. Dada Law Office P.C. has one office at 802 Grant Ave, Novato, CA 94945, and offers virtual services across California. A remote consultation does not itself authorize remote signing or a remote court appearance.
