The goal of our firm has been to make estate planning and probate easy for our clients. Hiring a lawyer can be a stressful process, but it doesn’t have to be. We have helped thousands of happy clients over our 40+ years of business. Contact us today for a free appointment. We are here to help.
Setting up an estate plan is neither as expensive nor as complicated as most people expect. A good estate plan can help your loved ones on countless costs and eliminate several hassles often associated with the inheritance process. Our probate attorneys in Santa Clarita help clients set up living trusts and wills on a regular basis, with the goal of making things as easy as possible for our clients’ loved ones.
No two estate plans are identical in scope, size, and focus. An estate plan depends on multiple different factors – as such, specificity is important. Our living trust and probate lawyers are familiar with what works and what doesn’t. We plan for efficiency and practicality, rather than an overly complex estate plan for a modest and straightforward estate.
Our living trust lawyers can help you build an estate plan that not only simplifies the inheritance process, but also create contingencies for emergencies, problems, incapacity, and help you eliminate uncertainty for your family, ensuring that you always have a plan at hand, for any obstacle that might emerge.
The probate process is meant to ensure that a person’s estate is properly administered, and if there is a will, that it is properly followed. Without a will, when a petition for probate is filed, the court will appoint an administrator (usually from the family) and follow the state’s intestate succession rules. Intestate succession determines who inherits without a will. With the help of our probate attorneys in Santa Clarita, we are able to analyze who would inherit, and generally advise you on what to expect - how the process will play out.
Once an administrator is appointed for the estate, they must then administer the estate. This involves inventorying assets and addressing debts. Although there is a minimum duration for most cases of probate, to give creditors time to file a claim, some cases of probate take much longer than others. This could be due to complexities involved with certain assets, difficulties in the sale of real property, or difficulties with other heirs/family members.
Trusts are often touted as a superior way to handle an estate, as a trust can allow loved ones to avoid probate. But a trust is not necessarily needed to avoid probate court. Certain situations allow for probate alternatives and a decedent’s assets to be handled without probate. Our probate attorneys in Santa Clarita can help guide your family through the probate process as efficiently as possible.
Whether you need to set up your own estate plan, or you’re dealing with a probate situation for a loved one, our probate attorneys in Santa Clarita can help you forge the right path for your family to follow.
