Free California Estate Planning Tools
Ridley Law
Free California Estate Planning Tools
These tools apply current California probate and trust law to your situation and give you a real answer, not a brochure. They were built by Eric Ridley, a California estate planning attorney with 15 years of practice limited to trusts, estates, and probate.
Every calculator and screener on this page uses the 2026 California statutory fee schedule, current small-estate thresholds, and the actual Probate Code deadlines your court will enforce. No signup. No email gate. Use them as many times as you need.
See What Probate Will Actually Cost
Most people guess wrong. Enter the gross estate value and get the exact statutory executor fee, attorney fee, court filing costs, and referee fee California law requires.
Know Every Deadline After Someone Dies
Named as successor trustee? Enter the date of death and get a personalized calendar of every California trust administration deadline, from the 60-day notice to the final distribution.
Find Out If Your Trust Is Actually Funded
A trust that isn’t funded is just a stack of paper. Select your assets and get a personalized checklist showing exactly how each one needs to be retitled into your trust.
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Model Your Inherited IRA Distributions
Inherited an IRA? Find out whether you’re subject to the 10-year rule or can stretch distributions over your life expectancy, then see a year-by-year schedule with estimated income tax.
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Trace Your Community vs. Separate Property
California’s community property rules determine who owns what and how it’s taxed when a spouse dies. Enter your assets and see which are community, which are separate, and which are mixed.
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See If Your Estate Faces Federal Tax
The current exemption is $15 million, but what if it drops to $7 million? Enter your estate value and see your exposure under both scenarios, plus what you could lock in now.
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Audit Your Power of Attorney for Gaps
An outdated or incomplete power of attorney can leave your family stuck in court. Answer 10 questions and find out whether your documents have the provisions banks actually accept.
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Check Your Beneficiary Designations
Beneficiary designations override your will and your trust. Enter your accounts and see whether an ex-spouse, deceased relative, or “my estate” is still named where it shouldn’t be.
Is Your Trust Still Doing Its Job?
Laws change. Families change. A trust drafted five years ago may have gaps you don’t know about. Answer a few questions and find out whether your plan still protects what you think it does.
Get a Full Diagnostic on Your Estate Plan
Funding gaps, outdated beneficiary designations, missing powers of attorney. This deeper review flags the problems that cause real trouble when someone gets sick or dies.
Will an Inherited Home Trigger a Tax Reassessment?
Proposition 19 changed the rules for inherited property in California. Enter the property details and see whether you will owe higher property taxes and how much.
Find Out If This Estate Needs Probate
Not every estate goes through probate. This screener checks the asset values against California’s current thresholds and tells you whether formal probate, a small-estate affidavit, or nothing at all is required.
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Trust or Will? Find Out Which You Need
Answer a few questions about your family, assets, and goals, and find out whether a revocable living trust, a simple will, or both is the right starting point for your plan.
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Who Inherits in California Without a Will?
If someone dies without a will or trust in California, intestate succession decides who gets what. Enter the family situation and see exactly who inherits under Probate Code § 6400.
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Medi-Cal Asset Eligibility Screener
The 2026 asset limit is back. Enter your countable assets and household size to see whether you are likely over or under the current Medi-Cal threshold, with the key exemptions explained.
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Your Student Turned 18. Access Ended That Day.
At 18 a student’s medical records and school records become theirs alone, and a parent has no automatic right to either. Build the advance health care directive, HIPAA authorization, and financial power of attorney that fix it. Free through August 31, 2026.
Want a straight read on where you stand?
Talk to Eric. A free 30-minute call, no pitch. He’ll tell you where you’re exposed, what it would cost to fix, and what you can skip.
Talk to Eric