Camarillo Estate Planning Essentials for 2026

Short answer: A Camarillo estate plan is a California estate plan: a living trust to keep the house and accounts out of probate, a will that names a guardian for minor children, a durable power of attorney, and an advance health care directive. If you die without a plan, your estate is probated in Ventura County Superior Court, and the property tax on a house your children inherit turns on Proposition 19 (Rev. & Tax. Code §63.2).

For most families I work with in Camarillo, the house is the largest asset. That drives most of the decisions below, from avoiding probate to keeping the property tax base when the house passes to a child.

Law verified against Probate Code §§100, 1500, 4124, 4671, 5040, 6110, 6122, 6401, 6402, 7051, 10800, 10810, 13100, Family Code §760, Revenue and Taxation Code §63.2, and 26 U.S.C. §2010, 2026. This is general information, not legal advice for your situation.

What happens if you die in Camarillo without an estate plan?

Your property passes under California’s intestacy rules. A surviving spouse takes your half of the community property (Prob. Code §6401(a)), and a share of your separate property that shrinks when you also leave children (Prob. Code §6401(c)). The rest goes to your children, then parents, then siblings and their descendants (Prob. Code §6402). Nobody asks what you would have wanted.

If what you leave outside a trust is worth more than the small estate limit, $208,850 for deaths on or after April 1, 2025 (Prob. Code §13100, adjusted under §890), the estate goes through probate. For a Camarillo resident, that case is filed in Ventura County, the county where you lived (Prob. Code §7051), and heard at the Juvenile Justice Center, 4353 E. Vineyard Avenue, Oxnard, usually in Courtroom J6. Statutory fees are set by the gross estate value, not your equity: 4% of the first $100,000, 3% of the next $100,000, and 2% of the next $800,000, each for the executor and the attorney (Prob. Code §§10800, 10810). My firm’s working estimate for a California probate is twelve to eighteen months. See how to avoid probate in Camarillo.

What documents belong in a Camarillo estate plan?

• Revocable living trust. Holds the house and major accounts so they pass to your family without probate. You stay in control as your own trustee.
• Pour-over will. Catches anything left outside the trust and names guardians for minor children. A California will must be in writing, signed by you, and witnessed by two people present at the same time who understand it’s your will (Prob. Code §6110).
• Durable power of attorney. Lets someone you choose handle your finances if you can’t. It stays effective through incapacity only if it says so, with language like “This power of attorney shall not be affected by subsequent incapacity of the principal” (Prob. Code §4124). More in durable power of attorney in California.
• Advance health care directive. Names a health care agent and states your treatment wishes. Any adult with capacity can sign one (Prob. Code §4671(a)). See my advance health care directive page.

How do you choose a guardian for your children?

A parent may nominate a guardian of the person, the estate, or both, for a minor child (Prob. Code §1500). Put the nomination in your will and name a backup. Pair the guardian nomination with a trust for your children’s share, so the person raising them isn’t also stuck managing their money under court supervision. See naming a guardian for your children in California.

How does community property affect a married couple’s plan?

Property a married person acquires during the marriage while living in California is community property, unless a statute provides otherwise (Fam. Code §760). At the first death, half of the community property belongs to the surviving spouse and half belongs to the spouse who died (Prob. Code §100(a)). You can leave only your half by will or trust. For married clients I usually use a joint trust that tracks which property is community and which is separate, so the survivor isn’t guessing later.

What does Proposition 19 mean for a Camarillo house?

For most Camarillo families, property tax matters more than estate tax. Since February 16, 2021, a parent-to-child transfer of the parent’s principal residence can avoid reassessment, but only if it becomes the child’s principal residence within one year and the child files for the homeowners’ or disabled veterans’ exemption within a year (Rev. & Tax. Code §63.2(a)(1)). The exclusion is limited in value: if the home’s market value is at least its taxable value plus $1,000,000, the amount above that sum is added to the child’s taxable value (Rev. & Tax. Code §63.2). A child who inherits and rents out the house, or sells it, gets a reassessed tax bill.

No exclusion is allowed unless a claim is filed with the assessor (Rev. & Tax. Code §63.2(b)), which for a Camarillo house is the Ventura County Assessor. For the details, see the Prop 19 parent-child exclusion.

Will your family owe estate tax?

Probably not. For 2026, the federal basic exclusion amount is $15,000,000 per person (26 U.S.C. §2010(c)(3)), adjusted for inflation after that. A surviving spouse can also use the deceased spouse’s unused exclusion amount (26 U.S.C. §2010(c)), so a married couple with proper planning can shelter up to twice that. Families above that level need tax planning beyond a standard trust. For everyone else, the planning focus is probate, incapacity, and Prop 19.

When should you update your plan?

Review it after a marriage, divorce, birth, death, move, or major change in assets. California law cleans up some divorce problems for you, but not all of them. Unless your will says otherwise, a divorce revokes gifts to your former spouse in your will and any nomination of that spouse as executor, trustee, or guardian (Prob. Code §6122(a)). A nonprobate transfer to a former spouse, such as a revocable beneficiary designation, generally fails too, if you haven’t changed it by the time you die (Prob. Code §5040(a)). Don’t rely on either statute. Update the documents and the beneficiary forms after any divorce.

Should an estate plan cover digital assets?

Yes. California’s Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (Prob. Code §870 and following) applies to personal representatives, trustees, and agents under a power of attorney who need to reach your digital assets (Prob. Code §872(a)). Your trust and power of attorney should expressly grant that access, and you should keep a current list of accounts where your family can find it.

Can I do my Camarillo estate plan remotely?

Yes. My practice is fully remote. We plan by phone and Zoom, a mobile notary comes to your home to sign, and I record the deed moving your house into the trust. You get a map for re-registering each account in the trust’s name. See my estate planning overview and estate planning attorney in Camarillo page, or reach me through the contact page.