Estate Planning and Probate Lawyer in Lanare CA

Start with the decision facing your family

If you are planning ahead, consider which people you want to make health-care or financial decisions if you cannot act, and how you want your property addressed. Wills, trusts, financial authority and health-care decisions may be coordinated, but a family does not necessarily need every document or every planning tool.

If someone has died, begin by identifying the documents and property involved before assuming that probate is required—or that a trust alone settles every question. Trust administration and formal probate depend on the documents and asset ownership.

• Planning ahead: clarify the decisions you want others to make and the property or accounts that need consideration.
• After a death: identify the documents, ownership records and person named to act, then determine what process and authority may apply.

Separate a named role from the authority needed

A name in a will or trust is an important starting point, but it does not by itself answer every question about what process applies. The documents and the way assets are owned matter when distinguishing trust administration from formal probate.

Before taking action, ask: Which document names the person expected to act? Does it address the particular asset? Is the asset titled in a way that fits the document? Does the situation call for trust administration, or does it require consideration of formal probate? These are questions to review, not assumptions to settle from a document title alone.

• Collect relevant wills, trusts and financial or health-care planning documents.
• Gather available deeds, account ownership information and other records showing how property is held.
• Make a list of unresolved questions about the named person's role and any further authority that may be needed.

Keep planning and administration distinct

Planning documents address decisions and arrangements made during life; post-death administration concerns what happens under those documents and the ownership of assets. A will, trust, financial authority and health-care decision document serve different planning purposes and should be considered in light of the decisions you actually need to address.

Routine planning is not the same as a court proceeding. For a particular family, whether formal probate is relevant cannot be determined from a mailing address or a single document alone; residence, property location, documents and ownership all matter.

Lanare, Fresno County and virtual help

Lanare is an unincorporated community in Fresno County; it is not a Codi M. Dada Law Office P.C. branch location. The firm’s physical office is in Novato, and virtual services are available throughout California.

For general information about formal probate, the Superior Court of California, County of Fresno provides a probate resource. That resource is not proof that a particular case belongs in Fresno County and is not a substitute for evaluating the facts of that case. For an initial review, organize the documents and ownership records and identify whether you are planning ahead or responding to a death.