Estate Planning and Probate for Larkspur Residents
Planning during your lifetime and managing an estate after a death are different tasks. The right starting point depends on your goals, the documents already in place and how assets are owned. Codi M. Dada Law Office P.C. has one in-person office in Novato and provides virtual services throughout California.
Start with the decision in front of you
If you are planning for yourself, the focus is on documenting who may act for you and how your affairs should be handled. Estate planning can coordinate a will or trust with financial authority and health-care decisions. If someone has died, the first question is different: what documents exist, and how were the assets titled?
Those details help distinguish planning while alive from administering a trust or addressing a decedent’s estate through formal probate. A plan is not a single document, and the administration route cannot be determined from a family relationship or a will alone.
- Planning ahead: identify your priorities and the people you want involved in financial or health-care decisions.
- After a death: gather the available estate documents and information about asset ownership before deciding what administration may be needed.
Planning for decisions during your lifetime
A planning conversation can address different needs without assuming that every person needs every available document. Health-care directives and living wills concern health-care preferences and decision-making authority. A financial power of attorney addresses financial authority. Wills and trusts address different parts of an estate plan, and the documents should be considered together rather than selected by name alone.
Before a meeting, consider what decisions matter most, whom you trust to carry them out and whether your circumstances have changed since any existing documents were made. You can also bring a list of major assets and questions about how they are owned. These are practical preparation steps, not a checklist of legal requirements.
- Explore health-care decision documents if your main concern is who can help with health-care decisions or how your preferences are communicated.
- Explore financial authority documents if your concern is who may act on financial matters.
- Discuss wills and trusts in light of your goals and asset ownership rather than assuming one form fits every situation.
After a death: trust administration or probate
Trust administration and formal probate are not interchangeable labels. Whether one is relevant depends on the documents and the ownership of the assets involved. A will may be part of the estate plan, but its existence by itself does not establish that all assets are held in a trust or determine what process applies.
A practical first step is to assemble the will, trust documents, and records that show how assets were held, then identify questions about the next steps. For a decedent’s estate proceeding in Marin County, the court’s Probate Examiner/Research Attorney reviews decedent-estate documents for procedural correctness before hearings. The examiner does not provide legal advice or advisory opinions.
- Ask whether the documents and asset records point toward trust administration, formal probate, or a need to clarify ownership.
- Keep procedural review distinct from advice about which route applies to a particular estate.
Choose the scope that fits your situation
The available planning and administration topics include wills, pour-over wills, revocable living trusts, trust administration, probate administration, health-care documents and financial powers of attorney. Other topics address particular circumstances, such as business succession, charitable or pet trusts, special needs planning, ancillary probate, and gift or asset-protection planning.
These are distinct areas to discuss, not a package every person needs. The useful question is what problem you are trying to solve now: setting out future instructions, arranging authority during incapacity, administering assets after a death, or addressing a specific family or asset concern. Some arrangements have limits and consequences that depend on the documents and circumstances; a trust does not by itself guarantee that every asset avoids court involvement, creditor claims, taxes or changes to benefits.
- For a first discussion, identify your immediate goal, any existing documents, major assets and the questions you want answered.
- If a death has already occurred, focus on the documents and asset ownership before choosing an administration path.
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 will mean probate can be avoided?
Not necessarily. Trust administration and formal probate depend on the documents and how assets are owned. A will alone does not establish that all assets are held in a trust or determine the process for every asset.
What should I gather before discussing an estate after a death?
Gather any will or trust documents you can locate and records showing how assets were owned. Those materials help frame whether trust administration, formal probate or further clarification may be relevant; the applicable route depends on the documents and ownership.
Official resources
- California planning and administration resource
- California planning and administration resource
- Official Marin 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.
