Are you looking for a wills lawyer in Los Angeles, CA?
At The Werner Law Firm, PC, we invite you to schedule a consultation with a Los Angeles wills lawyer trusted by California families since 1975.
If you want a say in who inherits your property and who raises your children, a will puts those decisions in your hands rather than the state's. Our Los Angeles, CA wills lawyer can prepare a will that is clear, valid, and built around your family. The Werner Law Firm, PC has drafted wills for California families since 1975, and our founder brings fifty years of practice to this work. Your first consultation is free, and it comes with no obligation.
A will is a written document that says who should receive your property when you die and who should care for your minor children. It also names an executor, the person responsible for carrying out its terms. A valid will gives your family clear direction and keeps these decisions with you rather than with a court.
Many people put off making a will, often because they are not sure where to begin. The document itself does not have to be complicated. A wills attorney in Los Angeles can prepare one that meets California's requirements and reflects your wishes, whether your estate is modest or has a few moving parts. Getting it right now can save your family a great deal of difficulty later. A will is also easy to revise as your circumstances change, so there is little reason to keep waiting for the perfect moment to start.
A will can be short and straightforward or it can carry a fair amount of weight, depending on your family and your property. These are the will services our Los Angeles attorneys handle most often.
Simple wills. For a straightforward estate, a simple will names your beneficiaries, an executor, and a guardian for minor children. It is often where a young family begins, and it can grow more detailed as your life and property do.
Pour-over wills. When you hold a living trust, a pour-over will directs any assets you did not move into the trust so they still end up where you intended.
Guardian nominations. For parents, a will is the place to name a guardian for minor children, which keeps that choice with you instead of a judge.
Living trusts. Many clients pair a will with a living trust to keep assets out of probate. We prepare both so they work together rather than against each other.
Special needs trusts. A will can create a trust for a beneficiary with a disability, so an inheritance supports them without disrupting their public benefits.
Codicils and will updates. As life changes, a codicil can amend a will without rewriting it, while larger revisions call for a new document.
Probate of a will. When a will is submitted to the court, we guide the executor through probate and the responsibilities that come with the role.
A will is a short document that decides big things. We give each one the attention that weight calls for.
The Werner Law Firm, PC has prepared wills, trusts, and estate plans for California families since 1975. Our founder, L. Rob Werner, has practiced for fifty years, earned recognition from readers of the Los Angeles Daily News as a top local attorney, and belongs to the Los Angeles County Bar Association. Our managing attorney, Troy Werner, brings 17 years of practice and is admitted in both California and Texas. As a wills lawyer in Los Angeles, CA, our firm knows how to prepare a document that stands up. Clients who want a fuller plan can also work with an estate planning lawyer in Los Angeles, CA at our office.
A good deal of our work comes from families we have helped before and the people they refer to us. Every will starts with a free consultation and a plain explanation of what your plan will involve. Our aim is a document you understand and can trust to carry out your wishes exactly as you intend them.
A will is the cornerstone of most estate plans, and it is often the first document people put in place. It is also widely misunderstood. Some people assume a will avoids probate, when in fact a will is what probate administers. Others believe a will covers every asset, when many pass by other means entirely. Knowing what a will does, and what it does not, helps you build a plan that actually works.
A will can handle several jobs in a single document. The main ones include the following.
Naming beneficiaries who inherit your property.
Appointing an executor to settle the estate and carry out your instructions.
Nominating a guardian for minor children.
Creating a trust within the will, such as one for a minor or a beneficiary with a disability, so an inheritance does not cost them their benefits.
A will controls only what you own in your own name. Assets with a named beneficiary or a joint owner usually pass outside of it, and a will often works alongside a trust that handles the rest. Fitting these pieces together so nothing falls through the cracks is a large part of what we do. A will that works in concert with the rest of your plan is far more effective than one written in isolation.
A will is only useful if it is valid and up to date. A document that fails on a technicality can be as good as no document at all, which is why the details deserve real attention. A few things decide whether yours holds up.
Meeting California's signing and witnessing requirements.
Naming an executor who is willing and able to take on the job.
Updating the will after marriages, births, deaths, and major purchases.
Coordinating the will with beneficiary designations and any trusts.
An outdated will can cause as much conflict as no will at all. That is why we help clients change a will when life shifts, and why choosing the right executor matters, since the executor's role carries real duties that can last months.
A will can be drafted quickly. The probate that may follow is the longer stretch.
A consultation to review your family, your property, and your wishes.
Drafting of the will and any documents that support it.
A signing appointment with the required witnesses.
Safe storage of the signed original, since that is the copy the court accepts.
Later, if needed, the probate process, where the court oversees distribution under the will.
Most wills are drafted within a couple of weeks. When probate is required, it usually runs several months or more, depending on the estate. How long it takes turns on the size of the estate and whether anyone contests the will, and a clearly written will tends to make that stretch shorter and less contentious.
A little preparation makes the first meeting more productive. If you can, bring the following.
A list of your property and a rough sense of its value.
The names of your intended beneficiaries and the person you want as executor.
If you have minor children, your choice of guardian and a backup.
Any will or estate planning document you have already signed.
You don't need every decision made in advance. We can walk through the choices with you and flag anything that deserves a closer look.
Wills are governed by California law, and several public resources can help you understand the basics before or after you meet with an attorney. The following are good places to begin.
The California Courts self-help guide on wills and estates explains wills, trusts, and probate.
The same guide provides a statutory will form and other sample documents.
The full California Probate Code is published by the state for those who want the statutes themselves.
These resources offer general information, not advice about your own will and family.
A will is one of the simplest ways to protect your family and make your wishes known, and it does not have to be a burden to prepare. We would be glad to walk you through the process and answer whatever questions come up along the way. Your first consultation is free, with no pressure to decide on the spot. Contact us to get started.
A will names an executor, and that appointment often comes as news to the person named. The document gets signed, filed away, and never discussed again. The executor learns of the role after a death, without knowing where the original is kept or what the rest of the family was told.
Pew Research Center data shows the same pattern. Older parents discuss burial arrangements far more readily than they discuss property, and their adult children report hearing even less. What that leaves behind is an administrative job handed to someone with no preparation for it. Our Los Angeles wills lawyers spend part of every drafting engagement on that gap. A will nobody was told about still works, but it works slowly, and delay in probate carries a cost.
Among adults in their 60s, 46 percent have a will.
68 percent of parents 65 and older have discussed their burial or funeral preferences with their adult children.
61 percent have talked with those children about who gets what.
Where the adult children were asked, 50 percent reported that a parent had raised medical care wishes with them.
Just 43 percent reported any conversation about future living arrangements.
Establishing a will can be beneficial depending on your circumstances. Here is how you can anticipate a will to work for you and your family’s best interest:
You sign your will, and the original becomes the only copy that counts. Witnesses sign at the same time. From that moment the signed original is a physical object with legal weight, and a photocopy in a drawer is not a backup. This is why we ask where you plan to keep it before you leave the office.
Safe deposit boxes cause more trouble than anything else, because the person who needs the will may not be able to open the box that holds it.
Nothing takes effect while you're alive. A will is revocable, so you can amend or replace it whenever you like. It gives no one any authority over your property or your care during your lifetime. That's a separate set of documents, and people are often surprised to learn a basic will leaves those gaps open.
After a death, whoever holds the original has to deliver it to the court. That person is the custodian, and it's a duty rather than a courtesy. It applies whether or not the estate ends up in probate. It applies whether or not the custodian is the person named to serve. Often the custodian is a spouse who never knew the obligation existed.
The person named as executor petitions for appointment. Being named in the will isn't the same as having authority. The court has to appoint you and issue the document that proves it. Banks and title companies will ask for that paper before they let you touch anything.
The executor takes inventory. Everything the deceased owned in their own name gets identified and valued. Assets with a named beneficiary usually pass outside the will entirely, which is one reason what belongs in it matters as much as what doesn't.
Creditors get notice. Debts and taxes are paid before anyone inherits. This step surprises families more than any other. Beneficiaries sometimes wait months while claims are resolved. An executor who distributes early can end up personally responsible for the shortfall.
The court reviews an accounting, then distribution closes the estate. The executor reports what came in, what went out, and what's left. Only then does property move to the people named in the will.
If nobody steps up, the county may. When no executor acts and no family member is willing or able, administration can fall to the Public Administrator. That's a workable outcome, though rarely the one anybody would have chosen. Naming a willing alternate in the document is what keeps a Los Angeles will out of that path.
We quote a single price at the first meeting and hold to it. What moves that price is structure, not wealth. A trust for a minor child takes drafting time. So does coordinating around a business interest, or planning for a beneficiary who receives public benefits. A straightforward will naming beneficiaries and an executor does not.
Someone organized, available, and even-tempered. The job is administrative rather than emotional. It rewards a person who returns phone calls and keeps decent records. Age matters too, since naming a sibling your own age often means naming someone who may not be able to serve when the time comes. Always name an alternate. That conversation is far easier to have now than to leave for a court to sort out later.
No. An out-of-state executor can serve, though the practical load is heavier. Property has to be secured, mail collected, and filings made here. Some financial institutions add friction for a representative they can't meet in person. If your first choice lives far away, we talk through whether a local alternate makes more sense, or whether the distance is manageable given what you own.
More than most people expect, and for longer. Inventory, creditor notice, tax filings, and an accounting to the court all sit with that one person, often across the better part of a year. Understanding the executor's duties before you name someone tends to change who you pick.
Yes, and it's common. A surviving spouse or an adult child frequently serves as executor and receives a share. Problems arise when siblings inherit in unequal shares and one of them controls the process. If your plan divides things unevenly, saying why in the document itself prevents a great deal of friction over equal shares.
The alternate takes over. If there's no alternate, the court appoints someone, usually a family member who asks, and sometimes not the one you would have chosen. When the executor does nothing, beneficiaries can petition to move things along, but that costs time nobody planned for.
Yes. Tell them they're named, tell them where the original is kept, and tell them who your professional contacts are. A short letter alongside the will covers the rest. We routinely help your executor get oriented while you're still around to answer questions.
Every will from Los Angeles County is lodged and administered downtown, in the Probate Division at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse on North Hill Street. Two court resources are worth knowing about before an executor's first hearing.
Probate notes are published in advance of a hearing and tell you what the court still wants. Reading them beforehand saves continuances.
Probate case access lets an executor check the status of a filing without calling the clerk.
The probate department can be reached at (213) 830-0850, and records requests go to (213) 830-0803.
An executor working through a first estate usually needs a place to ask questions. Two Los Angeles institutions handle a lot of those calls.
LA Law Library: 301 W. First Street, sits directly across from the Stanley Mosk Courthouse. It runs free classes on wills, trusts, and probate. Appointments with a volunteer attorney are also available. (213) 785-2529
Public Administrator: part of the county Treasurer and Tax Collector, steps in to administer estates when no executor acts or no heir is available. Its investigations unit can tell a family whether county involvement is warranted. (213) 974-0404
We don't endorse, sponsor, or have any affiliation with the organizations listed above. They appear here as a convenience for Los Angeles residents, and contact details can change without notice.
Wills get written once and used once, usually by someone who has never done it before. We draft with that reader in mind, and we walk clients through how to brief the executor before the document gets filed away. Our managing attorney, Troy Werner, was named Pro Bono Attorney of the Year by Christian Legal Aid of Los Angeles in 2023. The same office that drafts your will also guides executors through probate later. Your family won't be starting over with a stranger who has never read the document. Our Los Angeles wills attorneys meet clients at our Los Angeles office and at locations across the state.
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"The Werner Law Firm was very professional and dealing with my trust. Every person that I dealt with at the firm were knowledgeable, polite, and timely in their responses. I have worked with several law firms, and I have found Werner Law Firm to be the best. I would recommend them to everyone who is looking for people who are looking after the client. Thank you, Werner Law Firm for your excellent help." — Laurie Walton
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Most people come to us with the beneficiaries already decided. The executor is the question they haven't worked through, and it's usually the one that determines how smoothly any of this goes. Our Los Angeles, CA wills lawyers will draft the document. Then we'll help you think through who carries it out and what to tell them now. The first meeting costs nothing. Contact us whenever you're ready to start.
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.
