Estate Planning and Probate Lawyer in Novato CA

Start with the decision you need to make

If you are planning for your own future, the focus is on coordinating documents for property, financial authority and health-care decisions. If someone has died, the first question is different: what documents exist, how are relevant assets owned, and who is responsible for handling them? Those facts help distinguish planning from administration and formal probate.

A trust is not a universal substitute for probate. Trust administration and formal probate depend on the documents and asset ownership, so the right starting point is to review the actual records rather than assume a particular process applies.

• Planning while alive: consider which decisions need documents and how those documents fit together.
• After a death: identify the governing documents, asset ownership and the person handling the next steps.
• Uncertain which applies: gather records first; do not assume every estate needs the same process.

Planning while you are alive

Planning can coordinate a will or trust with documents addressing financial authority and health-care decisions. The useful question is not how many documents to collect, but which decisions matter to you and whether your current documents address them consistently.

The related services span several distinct needs: Wills, Pour-Over Wills and Revocable Living Trusts concern planning documents; Financial Power of Attorney concerns financial authority; Advance Healthcare Directives and Living Wills and Healthcare Power of Attorney concern health-care planning. Other options include Business Succession Planning, Asset Protection Trusts, Charitable Trusts, Gift Tax Planning, Irrevocable Trusts, Pet Trusts and Special Needs Trusts. These are separate subjects to evaluate against your circumstances, not a checklist every person must complete.

When someone has died: trust administration or probate

Trust Administration and Probate Administration address different paths after a death. Documents and asset ownership are central to determining which is relevant; a trust does not, by itself, establish that every asset will be handled outside probate. Executor and Trustee Services is another related area for people considering the responsibilities involved in administering an estate or trust.

For matters proceeding through Marin County probate, the Probate Examiner/Research Attorney reviews decedent-estate documents for procedural correctness before hearings. The examiner does not provide legal advice or advisory opinions. That review is a court procedure, not a substitute for understanding which process applies to the estate.

Prepare for a remote consultation

A focused consultation can begin with a short inventory of what exists and what you need to decide. Before meeting, collect copies of any wills, trusts, powers of attorney or health-care documents you have, along with a basic list of significant assets and how each is titled. If the matter follows a death, also note the date of death, the documents you have located, and who is currently handling communications or records.

Write down your main questions: Are you planning for future decisions, or dealing with an existing estate? Which assets or documents are unclear? What outcome or responsibility are you trying to understand? If you do not have a document or do not know how an asset is titled, mark it as unknown rather than guessing. These materials make it easier to discuss how documents and ownership relate to the available paths.

Choose a next step

For a planning matter, identify the decisions you want addressed and bring the documents you already have. For a matter after a death, begin with the available estate documents and an asset-ownership inventory. Codi M. Dada Law Office P.C. is based at 802 Grant Ave, Novato, California, and offers virtual services throughout California.