Your Culver City home goes to your family, not a year in probate court.

In California, a will still goes through probate. If your estate is above $208,850, which applies to every Culver City homeowner, a will alone guarantees your family ends up at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse. At Culver City home values, that means approximately $44,000 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 Culver City home worth $950,000, the mandatory statutory fee is approximately $22,000 per party, attorney and executor each, totaling ~$44,000 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. Here’s how it works: after intake is handled by our support team, Isha meets with you by Zoom to design your plan. Documents are then prepared and sent for your review. Signing takes place either at our Chatsworth office or, if you prefer to stay home, via a second Zoom where Isha walks through every document with you before connecting you with a digital notary for legally valid remote notarization. Rush timelines are available for clients with urgent circumstances.

Our firm uses transparent flat-fee packages, 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. We encourage you to ask about pricing on your free call, there’s no pressure and no obligation.

Online templates are not designed for California’s specific laws, community property elections, Proposition 19 structuring, the trust-funding requirements that actually keep your estate out of probate, or the precise execution requirements that make a document legally valid here. A trust that isn’t properly funded provides zero probate protection. Many families discover this too late, after a parent has died and the house still goes through court. 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, the probate process for real estate involves court filings, a mandatory waiting period, a court hearing, and ongoing fees for the attorney and executor 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 significantly 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 your home is held in a living trust, owned in joint tenancy, or covered by a transfer on death deed. A simpler court process may apply when your main residence is in your name alone and worth $750,000 or less. Usually full probate applies when it is in your name alone and worth more than $750,000. The $750,000 limit is based on the home’s full value, and your mortgage isn’t subtracted. Sources: California Probate Code §13151; Judicial Council of California. Amounts apply to deaths on or after April 1, 2025, and are next updated April 1, 2028.

Sometimes. Under California’s Proposition 19, your children can keep your lower property tax base only if the home was your main residence, a child makes it their main residence within 1 year, the child files for the homeowners’ exemption within 1 year, the child files a claim form (BOE-19-P) with the county assessor within 3 years, and the home’s value is within the applicable limit. Rental properties and vacation homes don’t qualify; they’re reassessed at today’s market value. Source: California State Board of Equalization (BOE), Proposition 19, effective Feb. 16, 2021.

Usually, yes. Trusts don’t expire. But a trust written in the 1990s may be out of date because tax rules, property tax rules, and your life have changed, or property acquired later was never added. We recommend having an older trust reviewed. Sources: IRS 2026 inflation adjustments; California State Board of Equalization, Proposition 19.