Estate Planning and Probate Guidance for Los Altos

Start with the decision in front of you

If you are planning while alive, compare the documents that address different decisions: a will or trust for estate planning, financial authority documents, and health-care decision documents. These tools can be coordinated, but they do not all serve the same purpose. The practical question is which decisions you want addressed and whether your current documents and asset ownership work together.

After a death, distinguish trust administration from formal probate rather than assuming one automatically replaces the other. The documents in place and ownership of the assets are relevant to which process may apply. A family may need to review those facts before deciding what to do next.

Which documents should you compare?

Gather the current versions of any will, trust, financial power of attorney, and health-care directive or related health-care decision document. Put them side by side and note the date, the decisions each addresses, and any names or directions you want to revisit. This is a preparation step, not a conclusion that any document must be changed.

Also make a working list of assets and how each is owned. Compare that list with the estate-planning documents rather than reviewing a will or trust in isolation. California’s court guidance identifies both the documents and asset ownership as relevant to the distinction between trust administration and formal probate.

• Mark any document you cannot locate or whose purpose is unclear.
• Write down the questions you want answered before deciding whether to revise, add, or leave a document unchanged.

Choose a focused planning path

For planning during life, the available topics include wills, pour-over wills, revocable living trusts, financial powers of attorney, and advance health-care directives and living wills. These are distinct subjects to compare against your goals and existing arrangements, not a checklist that every person must complete.

Other topics may be relevant only when a particular concern calls for them, such as business succession, charitable or pet trusts, special needs trusts, or gift-tax planning. A focused discussion can help narrow which subjects deserve attention and which do not.

When administration or probate is the question

If you are handling matters after a death, begin by collecting the available will and trust documents and organizing information about asset ownership. Those facts provide a starting point for considering whether trust administration, formal probate, or further review is appropriate. The labels alone do not settle the question.

Trust administration and probate are separate service areas. The firm can discuss the documents and circumstances relevant to your next step; the appropriate process depends on the actual estate and ownership information.

Plan a useful first conversation

Codi M. Dada Law Office P.C. has one in-person office in Novato and provides virtual services throughout California, including for people in Los Altos. Bring the documents you have, your asset-ownership list, and a short explanation of the decision you are facing. If you are unsure whether your question concerns planning, trust administration, or probate, say so; identifying that distinction is a practical place to begin.