Estate Planning and Probate Options for Duarte Residents

Begin with ownership and authority

Estate planning and post-death administration address different situations. While you are planning, the focus may be how documents coordinate your will, trust, financial authority and health-care decisions. After a death, the documents and ownership of assets help determine whether trust administration or formal probate is relevant. A document’s title alone does not answer every question about the next step.

For a planning conversation, consider what decisions you want addressed and who you want involved. For an administration question, note what documents exist, how assets appear to be owned, and who is currently handling affairs. These are optional ways to organize the discussion, not a legal checklist or a conclusion about which process applies.

Planning during life: identify the decisions at issue

Estate planning can coordinate wills, trusts, financial authority and health-care decisions. The useful starting point is the particular decision you want to plan for, rather than assuming that every available document or trust belongs in one plan.

You may wish to discuss how your property should be addressed, who you want to have financial authority, and what health-care decisions or preferences you want reflected in your planning. These are distinct subjects. Identifying which ones matter to you can help keep the conversation focused without presuming that one document answers every question.

After a death: compare trust administration and probate

Trust administration and formal probate are separate possible paths, and the documents and ownership of the assets matter in deciding which may apply. Do not assume that the existence of a trust, by itself, settles the question. Reviewing the available documents alongside how property is held provides a more useful starting point.

For a California probate matter, the California Courts overview directs that probate be opened in the county where the decedent lived. If the decedent lived outside California but owned property in California, the overview directs filing in the California county where that property is located. The county relationship is a filing consideration; it does not establish which process applies to a particular estate.

Choose a focused topic for further discussion

The service areas below address different planning and administration topics. They are options to consider in light of your circumstances, not a package that every individual or family needs.

• Health-care planning: Advance Healthcare Directives and Living Wills; Healthcare Power of Attorney.
• Financial authority and core documents: Financial Power of Attorney; Wills; Pour-Over Wills.
• Trust planning: Revocable Living Trusts; Irrevocable Trusts; Asset Protection Trusts; Charitable Trusts; Pet Trusts; Special Needs Trusts.
• Business, gifts and administration roles: Business Succession Planning; Gift Tax Planning; Executor and Trustee Services.
• After-death administration: Trust Administration; Probate Administration; Ancillary Probate.

Prepare for a practical first conversation

If convenient, gather or make a list of any wills, trusts, financial authority documents or other papers that may relate to the question. For a matter following a death, you may also note what you know about ownership of the assets and who is handling them. These optional preparation steps can help frame the discussion; they do not determine the legal process.

A focused next question is: which ownership or authority issue could change what happens next? Codi M. Dada Law Office P.C. serves Duarte residents virtually throughout California from its Novato office.