Are you looking for an estate planning lawyer in Encino, CA?
At The Werner Law Firm, PC, we are estate planning lawyers with 50 years of experience.
If you are deciding how your home, accounts, and personal property should pass to the people you care about, the documents you sign now determine how much work your family faces later. Estate planning is also about incapacity, not only death. An Encino, CA estate planning lawyer at our firm builds the plan, drafts the documents, and makes sure the assets are titled to match. The Werner Law Firm, PC has done this work for California families since 1975, in English and in Spanish. The first consultation costs nothing.
Owner-occupied homes account for 46.1% of housing units in Los Angeles County, where the median owner-occupied home is valued above $780,000. For most Encino households, the house is the largest asset in the estate and the one most likely to force a court case if nothing is done.
An estate planning attorney designs how property and decision-making authority transfer, both during life and after death. That means drafting the will or trust, naming the people who will act for you, and confirming that deeds and beneficiary designations agree with the plan. A plan that exists only on paper, with nothing retitled, is the most common failure we see. Our Encino estate planning lawyers handle the drafting and the follow-through, and we tell clients directly when a simple will is enough and a trust would be an unnecessary expense.
Every plan is built from a small set of documents, combined differently depending on what a family owns and who depends on them. We start with what you have and what you want to happen, then recommend only what the situation calls for.
Wills. A will directs who receives your property and names a guardian for minor children. We draft wills that hold up to challenge and explain plainly what belongs in one. A will still goes through court, which is why it is often paired with a trust rather than used alone.
Revocable living trusts. A trust lets property pass without a court case and keeps the terms private. Our attorneys cover living trust basics at the first meeting so you can judge whether one fits.
Trust funding. A trust controls only what has been transferred into it. We prepare the deeds and account changes, because funding a trust is where most do-it-yourself plans break down.
Powers of attorney. A financial agent can pay bills and manage property if you cannot. We explain the power of attorney types and draft the one that matches your circumstances.
Advance health care directives. This document names a medical decision-maker and records your treatment preferences. We prepare advance healthcare directives alongside the financial documents so nothing is left to guesswork.
Special needs trusts. A beneficiary receiving public benefits can lose them through an ordinary inheritance. We structure special needs trusts that provide support without disrupting eligibility.
Blended family planning. Children from a prior marriage and a current spouse have competing interests that a standard plan does not address. We draft provisions for blended families that spell out who receives what and when.
Incapacity planning. Cognitive decline arrives before death for many families. Our approach to incapacity planning puts decision-making authority in place while a client still has capacity to grant it.
Pet trusts. Animals are property under the law and cannot inherit directly. We set up pet trusts that fund care and name a caretaker.
Probate. When a plan was never made, or was made badly, the estate goes to court. Our probate lawyers handle those cases in the same office, which shapes how we draft: we see firsthand which documents fail and why.
L. Rob Werner founded this firm in 1975 and has practiced law for 50 years. He served as founding president of the Santa Clarita Valley Bar Association and belongs to the Los Angeles and San Fernando bar associations, the latter covering the Valley communities the Encino office serves. The Los Angeles Daily News named him Best Attorney in its Readers' Choice Award, and the Santa Clarita Valley Bar Association named him Attorney of the Year. Fifty years in practice produces judgment about family dynamics and asset structures that cannot be acquired by education alone. He earned his B.A. at California State University, Northridge and his J.D. at Southwestern Law School, and has practiced in the Valley throughout.
The firm operates ten Southern California locations, including the Encino office, with attorneys and staff who work in English and Spanish. Every consultation is free.
Most plans leverage four or five estate planning instruments. Each does one job, and gaps appear when a family has some but not others.
Will. Directs distribution of property held in your own name and names guardians for minor children.
Revocable living trust. Holds title to assets you transfer during life and directs distribution without court involvement.
Durable power of attorney. Authorizes an agent to handle financial matters if you lose capacity.
Advance health care directive. Names a medical agent and records treatment preferences. California's Secretary of State maintains a voluntary directive registry where a copy or its location can be filed.
Beneficiary designations. Control retirement accounts and insurance policies regardless of what the will says.
Pour-over will. Catches any asset never transferred into the trust and directs it there at death.
Titling decides more than most people expect. A trust that has never received a deed does not control the house, and a retirement account payable to an ex-spouse pays the ex-spouse whatever the will says.
Reviewing is equally important, because a plan reflects the family that existed the day it was signed. Marriage, divorce, a death, a new property, a child reaching adulthood, a move to another state: each is a reason to revisit the documents. A plan drafted fifteen years ago may still be valid and still be wrong for the household it now governs, and the cost of amending it is a fraction of what a contested estate costs the people left behind. Families who want the shortest possible path for their heirs should also understand how to avoid probate before assuming a will alone accomplishes it.
A straightforward plan takes weeks to create.
Initial consultation to inventory assets and identify goals
Recommendation and a flat quote for the documents involved
Drafts prepared and reviewed with you
Signing appointment with witnesses and a notary
Deeds recorded and accounts retitled to fund the plan
Complex estates, business interests, and out-of-state property extend the middle of that sequence. Nothing about it requires a court, which is the point. We also schedule a future review.
No document is required to begin. Bringing these makes the first meeting more productive.
A list of real property, with how title is currently held
Account statements showing current beneficiary designations
Any existing will, trust, or power of attorney
Names of the people you would want as agent, trustee, or guardian
Notes on anyone with a disability, a benefits program, or a complicated situation
We use that first hour to identify what is missing and what the plan will cost. You leave knowing both. Clients who arrive with nothing but questions are common and welcome; we can request statements and title records on your behalf once you decide to move forward.
Encino sits in Los Angeles County, and several county and state offices handle the filings a completed plan depends on.
Transferring a home into a trust requires a recorded deed that meets the county's recording requirements.
The California courts publish an overview of wills and planning documents for people deciding what they need.
The same self-help guide explains which legal documents carry legal effect and which do not.
Planning is the one part of this process you still control. Contact us to schedule a free consultation with an Encino estate planning attorney. We will review what you own, explain which documents your situation calls for, and quote the work before you commit to any of it.
The information on this website is for general information purposes only. Nothing on this site should be taken as legal advice for any individual case or situation. This information is not intended to create, and receipt or viewing does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship! See full disclaimer here.
