Top Estate Planning Attorneys in Woodland Hills, CA (2026)

Woodland Hills has about 70,000 residents, a median home value near $1.35 million, and one of the older population profiles in the San Fernando Valley, with roughly 18% of residents 65 or older. This is a community where a lot of families bought in decades ago and are still in the same house, which means a lot of estate plans were drafted decades ago too.

Woodland Hills is also the Valley’s commercial center. Warner Center anchors a corridor of major employers, including Northrop Grumman, Kaiser Permanente, and Farmers Insurance, which means a meaningful share of local households carry pensions, 401(k) plans, deferred compensation, or equity compensation alongside their real estate. Those accounts do not pass under a trust. They pass under whatever beneficiary form is on file with the plan administrator, and a lot of those forms have not been touched since they were signed at new-hire orientation.

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

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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. Even though Van Nuys Courthouse handles family law and other civil matters for Valley residents, probate for all of LA County, including Woodland Hills, is centralized downtown at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse, 111 N. Hill Street.

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Estate planning attorneys serving Woodland Hills

Ridley Law

Eric D. Ridley has practiced estate planning in Ventura County since 2010, working with families across Woodland Hills, 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 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. The San Fernando Valley Business Journal named her to its “Top 25 Lawyers of SFV” list. She has also served as an adjunct law professor teaching estates, wills, and trusts.

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.

The Estate Planning & Elder Law Firm (Richard Seff)

Richard Seff (Bar #150440) has practiced since 1990 with a practice limited to estate planning and elder law. He holds dual Master’s degrees in Social Work and Healthcare Administration, which shapes a practice that leans heavily into long-term care planning, Medi-Cal issues, and the family dynamics that come with aging clients.

5850 Canoga Avenue, Suite 410, Woodland Hills, CA 91367. (818) 292-8160.

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 a short drive from Woodland Hills in Encino.

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

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What Woodland Hills families actually deal with

The Warner Center beneficiary problem

Northrop Grumman, Kaiser Permanente, and Farmers Insurance together employ a large share of Woodland Hills’ working residents, and long-tenured employees at all three often hold retirement accounts, pensions, or equity compensation worth more than their home equity. None of that passes under a trust or a will. A 401(k), a pension survivor election, and RSU or stock plan accounts all pass according to the beneficiary designation on file with the plan administrator, full stop, regardless of what the trust says.

The form people fill out at new-hire orientation is frequently still in effect twenty or thirty years later, sometimes naming an ex-spouse, a parent who has since died, or an address that no longer exists. Coordinating those designations with the rest of the estate plan is not optional paperwork. It is the plan.

The outdated trust problem in an established community

Woodland Hills has been a settled, desirable Valley address since the 1960s and 70s, and a meaningful share of current homeowners bought in during that era or inherited from parents who did. Trusts drafted in the 1980s and 90s for those families often split into an A trust and a B trust at the first spouse’s death, a structure built around a federal estate tax exemption that was $600,000 at the time. That exemption is $15 million per individual in 2026. The old A/B split still functions, but it can force a surviving spouse into unnecessary trust administration, separate tax filings, and restricted access to assets, for a tax problem the family no longer has. If your trust was drafted before the mid-2000s, ask whether a restatement is worth it.

The same trusts often name successor trustees or attorneys who have since died, retired, or closed their practice. A plan is only as good as the people named in it, and in a community where households don’t turn over quickly, those names go stale.

Prop 19 and Woodland Hills’ housing stock

Woodland Hills homes bought decades ago carry property-tax assessments far below current market value. A home purchased in the 1980s for roughly $180,000, taxed at a little over 1% plus local assessments, runs about $2,000 a year in property tax. The same home today, with a median value around $1.35 million, would be taxed at roughly $14,800 a year 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). Value above that threshold is reassessed to market.

A child who does not move into the home within a year gets no exclusion at all. On a Woodland Hills home like the one above, that is the difference between a manageable tax bill and one that can force a sale the family never intended.

The probate math on a Woodland Hills home

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 Woodland Hills home worth $1.35 million with a $400,000 mortgage still owed, the fee is calculated on the full $1.35 million.

The statutory fee on a $1.35 million estate: $26,500 for the attorney and $26,500 for the executor. That is $53,000 in statutory fees alone, before court costs, filing fees, appraisals, or a petition for extraordinary compensation.

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.

Where Woodland Hills probate is heard

If an estate does go through probate, it is not filed at Van Nuys Courthouse or any other 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, and should know what parking and filing at that building actually involves.

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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 Woodland Hills. We wrote this page, and we think you should know that. Verify any attorney’s license status and specialist certification at calbar.ca.gov.