Estate Planning Services

Estate planning is at the heart of our practice. A carefully prepared estate plan does far more than determine who receives your property after your death. It allows you to decide who will manage your affairs if you become incapacitated, who will make medical decisions on your behalf, how your children and other loved ones will be protected, and how your assets will be preserved and distributed according to your wishes.

James Legal Group creates personalized estate plans designed around each client’s family, finances, priorities, and goals. Whether you need a trust, will, power of attorney, advance health care directive, or a comprehensive estate plan, we will explain your options clearly and help you put the right protections in place.

Start Our Estate Planning Questionnaire

Estate Planning Tools

A comprehensive estate plan is not a single document. It is a carefully coordinated collection of legal tools designed to protect you during your lifetime, provide for the people and causes you care about, and ensure that your wishes are honored after your death. The documents included in your plan will depend upon your family, assets, concerns, and long-term goals.

Resources

Frequently Asked Questions

General Questions

An estate plan is a coordinated collection of legal documents that explains how you want your personal, financial, and health-care matters handled during your lifetime and after your death. Depending upon your circumstances, an estate plan may include a Revocable Living Trust, Will, Durable Power of Attorney, Advance Health Care Directive, and other documents designed to protect you and your loved ones.

Yes. Estate planning is not only about the value of your property. It allows you to choose who will manage your finances if you become incapacitated, who will make medical decisions for you, who should care for your minor children, and who will receive your property after your death. Even a person with modest assets can benefit from having clear, legally enforceable instructions in place.

If you die without a valid estate plan, California law will generally determine who receives property held in your individual name. Those rules may not reflect your personal wishes or family relationships. In addition, a court proceeding may be necessary to administer your estate, and the court may need to appoint someone to handle your affairs.

If you become unable to manage your finances or make medical decisions and have not signed the appropriate documents, your family may have difficulty obtaining the authority needed to assist you. In some circumstances, a court-supervised conservatorship may become necessary. A Durable Power of Attorney, Advance Health Care Directive, and properly funded trust can help reduce the likelihood that court involvement will be required.

Every estate plan is different, but a comprehensive plan commonly includes a Revocable Living Trust, Pour-Over Will, Durable Power of Attorney for financial matters, and Advance Health Care Directive. Additional planning may be appropriate for minor children, beneficiaries with disabilities, pets, businesses, charitable gifts, or other particular circumstances.

Special Planning Considerations

Yes. Your estate plan can provide gifts to charities, nonprofit organizations, religious institutions, schools, or other causes that are important to you. These gifts may be structured as specific dollar amounts, particular property, percentages of your estate, or distributions made after the needs of other beneficiaries have been addressed.

Usually, yes. A Revocable Living Trust, Will, Durable Power of Attorney, and Advance Health Care Directive can generally be amended or replaced while you have legal capacity. Your estate plan should evolve as your family, property, relationships, and priorities change.

It is wise to review your estate plan periodically and after a significant life event, such as marriage, divorce, the birth or adoption of a child, a death in the family, the purchase or sale of real estate, a substantial change in finances, a beneficiary’s disability, or a change in the people you have selected to serve in important roles.

Online forms may not account for your family dynamics, property ownership, beneficiary needs, or California-specific legal concerns. They also may not provide meaningful assistance with trust funding or explain how the documents work together. An estate plan is most effective when it is tailored to your circumstances and properly implemented.

Estate Planning at James Legal Group

James Legal Group begins by learning about your family, property, concerns, and long-term goals. We then explain the available planning options in clear, understandable terms and prepare documents tailored to your circumstances. Our goal is to create a plan that reflects your wishes and that you and your loved ones can understand and use when it is needed.

Complete the James Legal Group Estate Planning Questionnaire and then contact our office to schedule a consultation. The questionnaire will help you begin gathering the information needed to discuss your family, property, priorities, and planning goals. Don’t worry about filling every section out – it’s ok to leave things blank and to have questions that we can discuss during the consultation. You do not need to have every decision made before scheduling your consultation.

Your consultation may take place in person, by Zoom, or over the telephone—whichever is most convenient for you. We will review your completed Estate Planning Questionnaire, discuss your family, assets, concerns, and goals, and answer any questions you may have. For an additional fee, Attorney Kelley James may also be available to meet with you at your home or another convenient location.

It is helpful to have general information about your family, real estate, bank and investment accounts, retirement benefits, life insurance, business interests, and existing estate-planning documents.

Once James Legal Group has received your completed Estate Planning Questionnaire and we have reviewed it together, your estate-planning documents will generally be drafted within approximately two weeks. You will then receive draft copies to carefully review and may request any necessary corrections or changes.

After you approve the documents, we will schedule a final in-person appointment. During that appointment, you will sign your estate-planning documents and complete any required notarization. You will leave the office with your completed estate plan in place!