Estate Planning and Probate Guidance for San Mateo

Plan ahead or address an estate now?

If you are planning while alive, consider how your will, trust, financial authority, and health-care decisions fit together. If someone has died, the central question changes: what do the governing documents say, and how are the relevant assets owned? Those factors help distinguish trust administration from formal probate; the labels alone do not determine the path.

Codi M. Dada Law Office P.C. has one in-person office in Novato and provides virtual services statewide, including for people in San Mateo. The firm can help you identify which documents and questions are relevant to the decision you are facing.

• Planning ahead: review documents that address property, financial authority, and health-care decisions.
• After a death: gather the will or trust documents you can locate and information about how assets are held.
• Before changing a plan: compare the existing documents as a set rather than deciding from one document in isolation.

Compare the documents before changing them

Make an inventory of existing wills, trusts, financial-authority documents, and health-care documents. Note which decisions each document addresses and whether your circumstances or goals have changed. This is a practical way to prepare for a focused discussion, not a legal requirement.

For a person who has died, include available ownership information alongside the estate documents. That comparison matters because trust administration and formal probate depend on both the documents and asset ownership. A will or trust viewed by itself may not answer which process applies.

• What documents are currently in place, and what decisions do they cover?
• Which assets or accounts may be relevant, and how are they owned?
• Is the question about future planning, or about carrying out a plan after a death?

Planning options while you are alive

Estate planning can coordinate a will or trust with documents addressing financial authority and health-care decisions. The appropriate combination depends on the decisions you want addressed; the existence of multiple document types does not mean every person needs every option.

The related planning topics include wills, pour-over wills, revocable living trusts, and financial power of attorney. Health-care planning includes advance healthcare directives and living wills, as well as healthcare power of attorney. Other focused topics include business succession planning, gift tax planning, and charitable, asset protection, irrevocable, pet, or special needs trusts. These are distinct subjects to consider when relevant, not a checklist that every family must complete.

When a death has occurred

Trust administration and formal probate are different routes for handling an estate, and the documents and ownership of assets help determine which may apply. Probate may be relevant even when planning documents exist; a trust does not, by itself, establish that every asset will be handled outside court.

For a matter connected to San Mateo County, the Probate Division handles decedent estates and trusts. If court proceedings are involved, use the division’s current instructions for the relevant matter rather than relying on an assumed courthouse assignment.

• Trust administration and probate administration are separate topics to assess in light of the documents and assets.
• Executor and trustee responsibilities are distinct subjects; which one matters depends on the situation and governing documents.

Choose a useful next step

For a planning conversation, organize the documents you have and write down the decisions you want to revisit. For an estate after a death, gather available planning documents and asset-ownership information, then identify whether a trust or court process is already being addressed. These preparation steps can help focus the discussion without assuming a particular outcome.

A useful first question is: which documents should be compared before deciding what to change? The answer should follow from your goal—planning for the future or understanding how an existing plan is being administered.