Top Estate Planning Attorneys in Encino, CA (2026)

Encino has about 60,800 residents, an average household income near $205,000, and roughly 85% of its workforce in executive, managerial, or professional roles. It is also, more than any of its Valley neighbors, a city of two different housing markets living inside one zip code cluster: flatland homes in the 91316 area running around $961,000, and hillside estates in the Encino Hills, often marketed as “Royal Oaks,” running $2 million and up. That is a different neighborhood, worth noting on its own, from the more modest Balboa Park area that also carries an Encino address.

That bifurcation matters for estate planning because the flatland and the hillside are not the same financial problem. A flatland family is usually managing a valuable but unremarkable primary residence alongside a 401(k) and maybe some stock. A hillside family is more often managing a large custom property, significant investment and equity compensation, and, increasingly, an estate that is closer to today’s $15 million federal exemption than most families in this cluster will ever get. Both need a plan. The plans look different.

Below are estate planning attorneys who actually serve Encino, with verifiable credentials. This is not a ranking. It is a starting point for doing your own homework.

---

How to vet an estate planning attorney

The California State Bar certifies attorneys as Legal Specialists in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law. Fewer than 1% of California attorneys hold this credential. It requires passing a written exam, demonstrating substantial experience, and submitting to peer review. You can verify any attorney’s specialist status at calbar.ca.gov.

A certified specialist is not automatically the right fit. But the designation tells you the attorney has submitted to outside scrutiny in this specific area of law, which is more than most marketing claims can say.

Beyond certification, look for:

• A practice focused on estate planning, not a general practice that also “does” trusts.
• Direct access to the attorney, not a paralegal-driven mill that hands you a binder.
• Flat, disclosed fees. If an attorney won’t tell you the cost before you sign, that tells you something.
• Familiarity with Los Angeles County probate procedures. Probate for Encino, like the rest of LA County, is centralized downtown at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse, 111 N. Hill Street, not at any Valley courthouse.

---

Estate planning attorneys serving Encino

Ridley Law

Eric D. Ridley has practiced estate planning in Ventura County since 2010, working with families across Encino, the greater San Fernando Valley, and the surrounding area. The firm handles living trusts, wills, powers of attorney, advance healthcare directives, trust administration, and probate. Flat-fee pricing, disclosed before engagement. Free 30-minute initial consultation by phone or video.

567 W. Channel Islands Boulevard, Suite 210, Port Hueneme, CA 93041. (805) 244-5291.

Law Offices of Gerald L. Kane

Gerald Kane (Bar #170557) is a Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law with a practice limited to estate planning, trust administration, probate, elder law, and VA benefits planning. His office is genuinely in Encino.

16255 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 510, Encino, CA 91436. (818) 905-6088.

Schiff Estate Planning (Amy Schiff)

Amy Schiff (Bar #187088) practiced at McDermott Will & Emery before moving to a practice devoted exclusively to estate planning and trust administration since approximately 2000, work that includes advising high-net-worth clients on the kind of planning Encino’s hillside estates increasingly require. Her office of record is in Woodland Hills; she regularly meets Encino clients at the City National Bank Building in Encino.

23371 Mulholland Drive, Suite 351, Woodland Hills, CA 91364. (818) 877-4161.

Law Offices of Alice A. Salvo

Alice Salvo (State Bar #103796) was admitted to the California Bar in 1982 and is a Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law. Her practice is limited to estate planning, trust administration, probate, and elder law.

20350 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 110, Woodland Hills, CA 91364. (818) 676-9572.

Law Offices of Yacoba Ann Feldman

Yacoba Ann Feldman (Bar #100817) has practiced since approximately 1981 with a practice limited to estate planning and probate. She is active in the State Bar’s Trust and Estates section and the San Fernando Valley Bar Association’s probate section.

5850 Canoga Avenue, Suite 400, Woodland Hills, CA 91367. (818) 905-2424.

---

What Encino families actually deal with

Flatland and hillside are different planning problems

“Encino” covers both a flatland home worth under $1 million and a Royal Oaks hillside estate worth well over $2 million, and treating those as the same estate planning conversation misses the point. The flatland family’s priorities are usually probate avoidance, updated beneficiary designations, and keeping the plan current as the kids grow up. The hillside family’s priorities more often include coordinating a larger and more complex asset mix, addressing whether a combined estate (particularly for a married couple, who together can shelter up to twice the individual exemption) is approaching the federal transfer tax exemption, and planning around illiquid assets like the residence itself, where the estate may need liquidity to pay taxes or fees without a forced sale. If your attorney gives you the same boilerplate plan regardless of which side of the hill you live on, that is worth questioning.

Executive compensation and the beneficiary form nobody updates

With roughly 85% of the Encino workforce in executive, managerial, or professional roles, a large share of local estates include equity compensation, deferred comp plans, or executive retirement benefits that pass by beneficiary designation, not by trust or will. These forms are filled out once, often years before marriage, children, or a divorce change who should actually receive the money, and they are rarely revisited unless someone thinks to ask. An estate plan that doesn’t include a beneficiary designation audit across every retirement account, life insurance policy, and equity plan is an incomplete plan, no matter how well the trust itself is drafted.

Prop 19 across two very different Encino markets

In the flatland, a home purchased decades ago for roughly $130,000, taxed at a bit over 1% plus local assessments, runs about $1,430 a year in property tax. The same home today, at a flatland median near $960,000, would be taxed at roughly $10,560 a year if fully reassessed. In the hillside, a larger property purchased decades ago for roughly $300,000 might run about $3,300 a year today, against a current value of $2 million or more that would be taxed at roughly $22,000 a year or higher if fully reassessed.

Before Proposition 19 took effect in February 2021, a child who inherited a parent’s home also inherited the parent’s low tax basis, with no cap. That is no longer automatic. Under Prop 19, a child who inherits a parent’s primary residence and moves in within one year gets a partial exclusion: the first $1,044,586 of reassessed value above the prior taxable value is excluded (this figure adjusts every two years; the current amount covers transfers through February 15, 2027). On a flatland home, that exclusion may cover most or all of the gap. On a hillside estate well above $2 million, it covers only a fraction, and the rest gets reassessed to full market value.

The probate math on both sides of Encino

California probate fees are set by statute (Probate Code §§ 10810 and 10800) and calculated on the gross value of the estate, not net equity. On a flatland Encino home worth $960,000, the statutory fee is $22,200 for the attorney and $22,200 for the executor, or $44,400 total. On a hillside home worth $2 million, the statutory fee is $33,000 for the attorney and $33,000 for the executor, or $66,000 total. Both figures are before court costs, filing fees, appraisals, or a petition for extraordinary compensation, which becomes more likely as an estate’s assets get more complex.

A funded living trust avoids probate entirely. You pay for the trust once, while you’re alive and can make decisions. Your family pays for probate after you’re gone, with no say in what it costs, and that gap only gets wider as home values climb toward the hillside end of the range.

Where Encino probate is heard

If an estate does go through probate, it is not filed at a Valley courthouse. Los Angeles County consolidates all probate matters at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse, 111 N. Hill Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012, downtown. Your attorney should know this without being told.

---

Credentials listed are drawn from the firms’ own public information, the State Bar of California, and public court records. This page is not a ranking and is not an endorsement. Ridley Law is listed first because we publish this page, not because of any ranking; we are included because we serve Encino. We wrote this page, and we think you should know that. Verify any attorney’s license status and specialist certification at calbar.ca.gov.