Estate Planning and Probate Services in Lagunitas-Forest Knolls, Marin County

First identify the decision you need to make

A change in family circumstances, property, or intended decision-maker may prompt a review, but it does not automatically mean that every planning document needs to be replaced. The useful starting point is to compare your current wishes with the people and assets addressed by the existing plan.

Planning can coordinate a will, trust, financial authority, and health-care decisions. Which documents are relevant depends on what you want to address; routine planning does not itself require court approval. Consider whether you are planning for your own future, updating directions for after death, or responding to a death that has already occurred.

For example, if a person named to make decisions is no longer the person you would choose, that is a question to raise when reviewing the plan. It is not, by itself, a conclusion about which document should change.

Gather the plan and the ownership picture

Before discussing options, collect copies of the estate-planning documents you can locate and make a simple inventory of property. Include records that show how real estate and other significant assets are owned, along with any documents identifying people assigned financial or health-care roles.

Then note what has changed since the documents were made: for instance, a changed relationship, a move, an acquisition or sale, or a different choice of trusted decision-maker. These are preparation prompts, not legal tests. The documents and ownership records help frame whether the question concerns updating planning, administration under a trust, or a possible probate process.

If you are unsure how an asset is titled, record that uncertainty rather than guessing. A mailing address alone does not determine where a formal probate case belongs; residence and property location can matter.

Choose a planning path or an administration path

If the person whose plan is being reviewed is living, the discussion is generally about planning: how wills, trusts, financial authority, and health-care decisions fit together, and whether the current documents still reflect the person’s wishes and circumstances.

If someone has died, the question shifts to administration. Trust administration and formal probate are distinct paths, and which may apply depends on the documents and how assets were owned. A will or trust name alone should not be treated as a complete answer without looking at the relevant property and records.

This distinction helps focus the next conversation. You can bring the documents and ownership information and ask what process the facts suggest, what remains unclear, and what additional records may help. This page offers general information, not a determination of what applies to a particular estate.

Lagunitas-Forest Knolls and Marin County resources

Lagunitas-Forest Knolls is an unincorporated community in Marin County, not a separate incorporated city or a location of a Codi M. Dada Law Office P.C. branch. The firm’s physical office is in Novato and it offers virtual services throughout California.

The Superior Court of California, County of Marin, provides a probate information resource. It is a general county resource, not proof that a particular case belongs in Marin or a substitute for evaluating residence, property location, and the applicable documents. A community name or mailing address by itself should not be treated as a venue decision.

Prepare a focused review

Bring together the current documents, available ownership records, and a short list of what no longer fits. Separate decisions you have already made from questions you want to explore. For example: Who should make decisions? Which property or accounts raise questions about ownership? Is the concern future planning, or administration after a death?

Codi M. Dada Law Office P.C. can discuss the planning or administration issue that those materials raise. A focused review can begin with the change that prompted your questions, without assuming that every available document or service is needed.