Settling a California Estate
If you are appointed as the executor, personal representative or trustee after a family member has died, the Law Offices of James G. Schwartz can guide you through the steps you need to take. We provide probate, estate and trust administration services, providing as-needed assistance or more hands-on help to carry out the tasks.
Our firm is located in Pleasanton, California, serving Alameda County, Contra Costa County and surrounding Northern California. We invite you to contact us today about our lawyer's experience in estate administration, including counsel to out-of-state family members appointed to settle an estate here in California.
Estate and Trust Administration ("Probate")
- Estate and probate administration - these processes are used to validate the deceased's will and resolve the assets and liabilities of the estate according to the terms of the will. We can also assist you when the person died intestate (without a will), in which case California statute dictates who inherits.
- Trust administration is the similar disposition of assets held in trust. It is a one-time duty or an ongoing obligation, depending on how the trust was set up. We advise trustees (administrators) of living trusts, charitable trusts and other types.
- The shortcut small estate affidavit can bypass probate court if the person's total estate is valued at $100,000 or less.
Estate administration duties include opening the estate, gathering the assets and determining their value, paying debts and taxes, distributions to beneficiaries, and final accounting and reporting.
Some of these tasks are mundane, some are complex, and there can be complicating factors such as federal estate taxes, jointly owned property, or property owned in other states. Attorney Josh Brysk can walk you through the process or handle matters fully on your behalf, depending on your comfort level and the time you are able to devote.
Call us at 925-271-4460 to arrange a consultation and discuss our fees. The Law Offices of James G. Schwartz also handles will contests and probate litigation.
