Estate Planning and Probate Services in Burbank, Santa Clara County

Start with the decision facing your family

Estate planning and post-death administration are related, but they are not the same task. If you are planning ahead, the question is how wills, trusts, financial authority and health-care decisions should work together. If someone has died, the immediate question is what the documents and ownership records authorize a named person to do—and whether further authority is needed.

A person named in a document may have a role to carry out, but the title alone does not settle every question about the assets. Trust administration and formal probate depend on the documents and how property is owned. Before taking action, identify the relevant document, the property involved and the authority it gives or appears to give.

• Planning ahead: consider which decisions would need someone else’s help and whether your existing documents address them.
• After a death: gather the will, trust and other estate-planning documents, then match them to records showing how each asset is held.
• When authority is unclear: get advice about the specific documents and property before assuming a named person can act.

Planning documents serve different purposes

A will, trust, financial authority document and health-care decision document do not automatically perform the same job. Estate planning may coordinate these tools, but that does not mean every person needs every document or that routine planning requires court approval. The useful starting point is to identify the decisions you want covered and review what you already have.

For example, someone who wants another person to help with financial matters during life may need to discuss financial authority. Someone focused on medical choices should discuss health-care decision-making and treatment preferences. A will or trust raises separate questions about what happens to property. These are examples of topics to consider, not a recommendation that any particular document is right for you.

• List the decisions that concern you: financial matters, health-care choices, or the disposition of property.
• Bring existing documents and note any changes in family circumstances or property ownership.
• Ask how the documents fit together and what they do not cover.

After a death: distinguish trust administration from probate

A family may need to administer a trust, address assets through formal probate, or investigate more than one route. The answer depends on the governing documents and ownership of the assets; it cannot be determined just from a person’s mailing address or from the fact that a will exists. A will also does not, by itself, establish that a particular asset is held in a trust.

For formal probate, the person’s residence and the location of property matter. Santa Clara County is the county identified for Burbank, and the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara, provides a probate calendar resource. That resource offers general information; its existence does not establish venue or provide instructions for a particular case. A mailing address alone does not assign a specific probate case.

• Make an inventory of assets and the ownership information shown in available records.
• Compare those records with the will, trust and other relevant documents.
• Treat the county court resource as general reference information, not a determination of where a particular matter belongs.

Prepare for a focused review

Before seeking guidance, collect the documents that bear on the question and write down what decision is pending. For a planning conversation, that may mean identifying the people you are considering for financial or health-care roles and the choices you want addressed. For an administration question, it may mean gathering the will or trust and records that show how property is titled.

Codi M. Dada Law Office P.C. is located at 802 Grant Ave, Novato, California, and provides virtual services throughout California. Burbank is an unincorporated community, not a separate firm office. A useful next step is to organize the documents and questions around the specific decision—planning ahead, carrying out a trust, or determining whether formal probate may be involved.