Estate Planning and Probate Guidance for Newman

First identify the decision in front of you

If you are planning while alive, start by naming what you want addressed: who may handle financial matters, how health-care preferences should be communicated, or how assets should be handled after death. Wills, trusts, financial authority and health-care decisions can be coordinated, but they address different questions.

If someone has died, focus instead on the documents that apply and how the assets are owned. Trust administration and formal probate depend on those facts. A will, a trust, or the presence of family members alone does not establish which process applies.

Use records to make the choice concrete

As an optional preparation step, gather any wills, trust papers, financial or health-care authority documents, and records that show what assets exist and how they are titled. If you are handling matters after a death, include the available planning documents and asset-ownership records. These materials can help clarify which question needs attention; this is not a prescribed filing checklist.

Make a short note of what is uncertain. For example, you may know there is a will but not know whether assets are held in a trust, or you may be unsure who is authorized to handle a financial or health-care decision. Separating what you know from what you need to find out keeps the next discussion focused.

Explore lifetime planning topics selectively

The firm’s separate planning topics include wills, revocable living trusts, pour-over wills, financial powers of attorney, advance health-care directives and living wills, and health-care powers of attorney. They address distinct planning concerns. The useful starting point is the decision you want addressed and the assets or circumstances connected to it—not an assumption that every document is needed.

Other firm topics include business succession planning, pet trusts, charitable trusts, asset protection trusts, irrevocable trusts, special needs trusts and gift tax planning. These are separate subjects to explore when they relate to a particular goal. Their inclusion here does not mean that any one of them is suitable for every person or family.

A practical next step is to identify one priority, such as choosing who should act in a particular role or arranging how assets should be addressed after death, and bring the records that relate to it. The documents and asset ownership help frame what planning question to consider.

After a death, distinguish trust administration from probate

When you are responsible for handling affairs after a death, begin with the governing documents and asset ownership rather than assuming that a particular process applies. Trust administration and formal probate are different routes, and the relevant facts determine which one may be involved. Probate administration, trust administration, and executor and trustee responsibilities are separate topics the firm addresses.

If formal probate is involved, California Courts directs that it be opened in the county where the person who died lived. If that person lived outside California but owned California property, the court’s overview directs filing in the California county where the property is located. A mailing address alone does not assign an individual case. During formal probate administration, the personal representative generally needs to contact a probate referee to value nonmonetary estate assets.

A useful next step in Newman

Bring the documents and ownership records you have, then state the decision you need to make first: planning during life, arranging for assets after death, or administering assets after a death. Codi M. Dada Law Office P.C. serves clients virtually throughout California from its one in-person office in Novato. A focused question and the relevant records can help keep the discussion centered on your circumstances.