Estate Planning & Administration
Estate Planning and Administration
An estate plan is basically a set of instructions to assure that your wishes for your assets are followed at your death. Goals are usually to avoid costs and taxes, maintain control during your life, prepare for the possibility that one day you won’t be able to care for yourself, and direct where your assets will go when you are gone. Different legal tools help you achieve these goals. I can draft your estate plan, including:
I can also assist in distributing an estate after someone has died. I can assist with:
Estate planning
The estate plan that works for you depends on your situation. A will may be the only tool you need. On the other hand, especially if you have real estate, you may want to create a living trust so that your family can avoid the delay and cost of taking a will to court (“probating” a will). Or–again depending on your situation–you may not need either of those things.
I can help you evaluate how you want to prepare for the future and what steps you may need to take to make that happen. I can prepare legal documents you may need.
Probate
If someone left assets that must be probated, such as a house that is not subject to a trust, I can help with the legal case that is required to distribute the assets to the people entitled to them.
See below for links to free resources about estate planning and small estates administration.
The purpose of this web site is to provide general information. It is not intended to be legal advice regarding your specific situation. Neither the site nor contact with the attorney creates an attorney-client relationship. Confidential information should not be sent unless an attorney-client relationship has been established.
Four estate planning questions:
Will your estate be “probated”?
“Probate” is the court-supervised process for distributing the probate property of a person after they die. It is usually expensive, often slow, usually requires a lawyer, and is public.
Do all estates go through probate?
No. “Small estates,” property held in a valid trust, and non-probate property do not have to go through probate.
In California, “small” estates can often skip probate. An estate worth less than $184,500, and that does not include real estate, is considered “small” and can usually be distributed without court involvement.
The value of an estate is determined by adding up the value of the estate’s probate property. Some property that might seem like probate property isn’t counted when determining whether an estate is “small.”
Property held in a properly-formed trust does not need to go through probate, even if it includes real estate and assets of more than $184,500.
Which of your assets is “probate property” and which is “non-probate property”?
When you die, “probate property” goes where the law — or legal documents you create — directs it to go. An example of probate property is a house you own by yourself.
“Non-probate property” passes to a specific person automatically, whether or not you have a will or a trust, because the property itself already includes directions. An example of non-probate property is an IRA: it goes to whoever you named as a beneficiary.
Is a do-it-yourself will a bad idea?
Not necessarily. However, be sure you know what you are doing (including specific requirements about content and witnesses) and what your other options are.
Free Resources
Estate Planning
The Sacramento Law Library offers useful information about estate planning.
The California Judicial Council’s online Self-Help Center explains the basics of wills, estates, and probate, focused particularly on what happens after someone dies.
A “California statutory will” can guide you if you want to make a simple will. The California Bar Association provides a downloadable version of the California statutory will form for free use.
The Mendocino County Law Library, located inside the Fort Bragg Library and at the courthouse in Ukiah, includes books about making your own estate plan.
Affidavit of Small Estate
The Sacramento Law Library offers useful information about affidavits of small estates.
Legal steps for caring for someone who can’t care for themselves
Conservatorships: When someone takes care of a person over 18 because that person cannot care for themselves, the person taking care is a conservator. A conservatorship might be needed for the care of a disabled young person or for an old person or a sick person who has become unable to care for themselves.
You can find guidance from California Courts Self-Help Center about how to establish a conservatorship.
Guardianships: When someone who is not a parent takes over the care of a child under 18, the legal process for giving that person the right to act as a parent is guardianship.
I can assist in establishing a guardianship. You can also contact the Mendocino County Superior Court’s Self-Help Center, which can help you represent yourself to establish a legal guardianship for a minor. The California Courts Self-Help Center offers online guidance on establishing a guardianships of a minor.