California Estate Planning Attorneys

We help families plan for their estates and for their beneficiaries, both during life and legacy planning.

We offer legal counseling and services regarding:

• Wills, Trusts, and Powers of Attorney: These document are foundational planning for any estate.
• Beneficiary Protection Lifetime Trusts: These trusts are designed to provide protection for your beneficiaries during their lifetime. Such trusts will protect your estate from your beneficiary’s creditors, ex-spouses, and other adverse obligations.
• Retirement Trusts: These trusts help integrate retirement assets into the distribution pattern of your estate plan.
• Special Needs Trust: These trusts are created to deal with the unique situation that occurs when one of your beneficiaries suffers from a disability. This disability may be from a developmental disability or from a serious accident or injury. Such trusts are designed to help that beneficiary maintain their independence and to help them to achieve their individual goals.

Our process helps guide families through Estate Planning.

Initial Contact

Our Estate Planning team will meet with you on the phone.

During this meeting we will:

• Gain basic understanding of your unique situation;
• Gain basic understanding of your unique concerns;
• Provide an explanation of our planning process and outline the steps involved; and
• Set an Initial Visit appointment to meet with our team to discuss your situation in greater detail.

Gathering

At the conclusion of this initial phone meeting, our Client Relations coordinator will:

• Email and mail our Confidential Personal Information Packet to you which includes:
  • Date and time of your appointment;
  • Directions to the office;
  • Explanation of the process ahead;
  • Document checklist;
  • Confidential Personal Information Booklet; and
  • Self-Addressed, Stamped Envelope;
• Memorialize the discussion, objectives and results from the initial telephone call.

The Prospective Client will:

• Review the appointment date and time in their confirmation letter;
• Gather the documents on the document checklist;
• Complete the Confidential Personal Information Booklet; and
• Use the Self-Addressed, Stamped Envelope to return the requested documents and the completed Confidential Personal Information Booklet prior to your appointment.

Evaluation

Upon receipt of your Confidential Personal Information packet, our team will:

• Evaluate the information returned; and
• Review the information with the Counseling Attorney in preparation for your appointment.

Initial Visit

During the Initial Visit meeting, you will meet with one of our attorneys who will discuss and address the following:

• Your situation and the information that you have provided in the Confidential Personal Information Booklet;
• Your individual goals and family values;
• A review of available options;
• Create and document a plan to address your goals and concerns;
• A review of time frames, costs, and additional documents needed to complete your plan; and
• Set a date and time for your Confirmation meeting.

Confirmation

During this stage, you will meet with our Signing Coordinator and will:

• Be presented with the Estate Plan prepared for you;
• Have a discussion about the specific elements of your Estate Plan;
• Sign and notarize your Estate Planning Documents;
• Be presented with any applicable transfer documents to be signed; and
• Review of how to transfer assets to fund your Estate Plan.

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