Your Calabasas home and everything you've built, your family keeps all of it.

In California, a will still goes through probate. If your estate is above $208,850, which applies to every Calabasas homeowner, a will alone guarantees your family ends up at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse. At Calabasas home values, that means approximately $52,000 in combined mandatory fees. A revocable living trust avoids the entire process.

California sets statutory probate fees on a sliding scale of 4–8% of the estate’s gross value, not your equity. On a typical Calabasas home worth $1.3 million, the mandatory statutory fee is approximately $26,000 per party, attorney and executor each, totaling ~$52,000 combined, before court costs at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse. A trust eliminates all of it.

Most clients complete their estate plan in two to three weeks from the initial consultation to signing. After intake, Isha meets with you by Zoom to design your plan. Documents are prepared and sent for review, then signing takes place at our Chatsworth office or remotely with a digital notary. Rush timelines are available for clients with urgent circumstances.

Our firm uses transparent flat-fee packages, so you know the full cost upfront, before we begin. The investment depends on the complexity of your family situation and the documents included. Most families find that the cost of a professionally drafted trust is a fraction of what probate would cost their family.

Online templates are not designed for California’s specific laws, community property elections, Proposition 19 structuring, trust-funding requirements, or the precise execution requirements that make a document legally valid here. A trust that isn’t properly funded provides zero probate protection. The cost of fixing a poorly drafted plan often exceeds the cost of doing it right the first time.

If your home is not held in a trust, it will go through probate upon your death, even if you have a will. In California, probate involves court filings, a mandatory waiting period, a court hearing, and ongoing fees based on the home’s gross value. Your heirs cannot sell, refinance, or take out equity during this process. Under Proposition 19, how your home is titled in your trust can also affect your children’s future property tax bill.

No. What matters is how your home is titled, not what it’s worth. Usually no probate applies when the home is held in a living trust, owned in joint tenancy, or covered by a transfer on death deed. A living trust is the most common way to avoid probate. The $750,000 limit for the simpler court process is based on the home’s full value, not its equity.

Sometimes. Under California’s Proposition 19, the home generally must have been your main residence, a child must make it their main residence within one year, and required exemption and claim forms must be filed on time. Rental properties and vacation homes do not qualify for the same treatment. The applicable value limit also matters.

Usually, yes. Trusts do not expire, but an older trust may be out of date because tax and property rules have changed, your family has changed, or property acquired later was never added. We recommend having an older trust reviewed. Sources: IRS 2026 inflation adjustments and the California State Board of Equalization, Proposition 19.