Probate Court Matters

Bay Area probate services with offices in Pleasanton and Castro Valley

We have thirty years experience handling probate and court supervised trusts. This is often required where the decedent never had a will or living trust. Occasionally, living trusts require (and sometimes benefit from) court supervision.

With our paralegal, Donna DeMartini, who served as an Alameda County Probate Court paralegal for 17 years, we strive to guide our clients through the probate court process as quickly and as efficiently as possible. We understand how the system works and know how to help our clients through this often difficult job.

The following are examples of
probate court matters within our practice:

• Probate of will
• Probate where there is no will (intestacy)
• Ancillary probate
• Independent administration of estates
• Special administration
• Creation of special needs trust to prevent loss of government benefits where the deceased person did not create a SNT
• Trust interpretations
• Real property tax planning
• Petitions for instructions by the executor, attorney-in-fact under power of attorney or trustee
• Trust modifications or terminations
• Substituted judgment to establish a living trust or to approve a tax plan
• Appointment of new trustees
• Spousal property proceedings
• Probate litigation and dispute resolution
• Estate tax return preparation (IRS form 706)
• Income tax consequences and issues in the inheritance
• Handling a decedent's farm or business
• Settlement of creditor claims
• Sale of estate property
• Determining proper compensation for the person in charge
• Actions on behalf of agents under powers of attorney
• Determining entitlement to estate distribution
• Dealing with the valuables and "stuff" inside the house
• Dealing with cars, boats, and motor homes