Experienced Trust & Estate Planning Attorneys In San Diego

We start with a complimentary virtual meeting to cover the basics, learn about you, and piece together your plan. Your attorney then drafts your plan and sends you a video review along with the initial drafts to help explain how they work together and cut through the legalese. We discuss updates/questions together until we agree all looks perfect, then our mobile notaries will sign with you at home around your schedule. There's no need to take time off of work or sit in traffic just to come into a law office - we'll come to you and make things as easy as possible!

On average 2-3 weeks between the initial drafting and finalization after review, depending on your wishes. You can take as much time as you need to review your plan and work through questions though, so no rush. Expedited plans available as well, just tell us your timeline when we first talk.

No! Why sit through traffic or take multiple days off work just to come into an attorney's office? Our convenient approach allows us to come to you without losing the touch of personal service. When your plan is ready to sign, our partnered mobile notary will come to you around your schedule to finalize everything. Stay in touch with your attorney anytime via phone, text, email, or Zoom, at your preference, without losing any valuable time.

To give you an honest answer here we really need to know what we're drafting first. Your plan is customized around your wishes, goals, and assets, so there are many variables that may change exactly what we set up or how we custom tailor it. To give you an idea of pricing for a trust-based plan involving fairly simple wishes and assets, our flat fees typically start at $2,500 / $3,000 (single / married) and that will cover a comprehensive plan for the vast majority of our clients (Living Trust, Will(s), Certification of Trust, Schedule of Assets, Gift Lists, Medical Directive(s), HIPAA Release(s), Financial Power(s) of Attorney, Trust Transfer Deed for primary home, County Recording, & Notarization). A majority of clients are covered with this base flat fee plan as it addresses all of their wishes, but in our initial meeting together we'll discuss if you need anything additional based upon your individual wishes and assets.

No! Unlike a surprising number of estate plans in the marketplace, our plans are completely customized to fit your needs. We can use a flat-fee structure for most of our plans because we’ve been doing this long enough that we know what most of our clients are going to want at least generally, and we’ve probably already drafted similar provisions that we can further customize to your needs. That allows us to project how much time we’ll likely be spending on your plan and arrive at a flat-fee that works for both parties. That said, more complex wishes (i.e- we need a spreadsheet to map out all of your contingencies), specialized clauses, or unique situations may cause your plan to be quoted a higher price than our typical base flat fees. We will not include any surprises in your bill though, you will know your quote well before we ever agree to work with one another.

Absolutely! Recording your primary home trust transfer deed with your County Recorder is included in our flat rate. Additional fees apply for secondary properties, but we will absolutely take care of recording all deeds for California properties at the County on your behalf. We'll also guide you on getting financial accounts into the trust as well. This step is key to helping your family avoid Probate.

A trust is a legal arrangement in which a named person (trustee) holds and manages assets for the benefit of a someone else (beneficiary). There are many different types of trusts, each designed to meet specific needs and goals. Trusts can provide many benefits, such as avoiding probate, minimizing taxes, protecting assets from creditors, and ensuring that assets are distributed according to your wishes. For example, if you want to ensure that your assets are distributed to your heirs in a certain way or at a certain time (and without going through Probate Court), a trust can provide the necessary structure and control to achieve those goals.

If you’re new to Estate Planning and need to learn the basics, check out our Free Course – Estate Planning in California to learn everything you need to know. You can also download our Free E-Book: 10 Essential Steps to Securing Your Family Legacy.

We would be honored to assist with your administration needs, whether that be an Estate matter in San Diego Probate Court or assistance with a Trust Administration. Our expert attorneys can help lift the burden you're likely feeling and make the process as easy as possible. 

Probate is not generally a fast and easy process, unfortunately. In San Diego Courts we typically tell our clients to expect 12-15 months before we can wrap things up. Many times we can get through a few months faster if the Court's Calendar is not backed up, but it's rare to make it through in less than 8-9 months. The impacted Court calendar is one of the many reasons you want to use an Attorney who knows San Diego rules well - one missed technicality can cause your case to be kicked back 4-6+ months just waiting to get back on the Calendar.

No! When you hire our firm we will write all needed petitions to the Court, perfect those petitions ahead of the hearings as needed, notify all parties involved, and personally appear in all Probate hearings on your behalf. For routine Probate matters, there will never be a need for you to be in San Diego physically for a Court hearing. 

Attorney fees for typical uncontested California Probate cases are set by §Probate code 10810 and are ordered by a Judge after review. They break down like this: 4% of the first $100k in gross estate value, 3% of the next $100k, 2% of the next $800k, 1% of the next $9M, etc. The executor/administrator is also entitled to this same reimbursement should they choose.