Estate Planning: First Meeting Prep

Short answer: Bring a list of what you own and how each item is titled, copies of any existing estate planning documents, your beneficiary designations, and a rough idea of who should inherit and who should be in charge. Titling matters most, because joint accounts, payable-on-death accounts, and beneficiary designations pass outside probate on their own (Prob. Code §§5000, 5302). The first consultation with Ridley Law is free, and what you say in it is privileged even if you never hire me (Evid. Code §§951, 954).

You don’t need polished paperwork for a first meeting. You need enough for me to see the shape of your estate and spot the problems a plan has to solve. This page lists what helps, explains why each item matters under California law, and covers what the meeting costs and what happens afterward.

Law verified against Probate Code §§5000, 5302, 5614, 13050, 13100, 8000, 6300, 15200, 19001, 4124 and 4671, Family Code §760, and Evidence Code §§951 and 954, 2026. This is general information, not legal advice for your situation.

What should I bring to the first meeting?

• A list of assets with approximate values and how each one is titled: your name alone, joint with a spouse or someone else, already in a trust, or with a named beneficiary
• Any existing will, trust, amendments, power of attorney, or health care directive, however old
• Deeds for any California real estate you own, and a note of any property in another state
• Beneficiary information for retirement accounts, life insurance, and payable-on-death or transfer-on-death accounts
• A rough family tree: spouse or partner, children from any relationship, and anyone else you might name as a beneficiary, trustee, or guardian
• Any prenuptial or postnuptial agreement
• A short list of debts, including mortgages

Round numbers are fine. You don’t need account numbers or statements for the first conversation. A fuller checklist is in key estate documents in California.

Why does it matter how each asset is titled?

Because title decides whether an asset needs a trust at all. California treats several kinds of transfers as nonprobate:

• Beneficiary designations and payable-on-death provisions in insurance policies, retirement plans, and account agreements are valid without meeting the formalities for a will (Prob. Code §5000(a)).
• Joint accounts. Money left in a joint account belongs to the surviving party unless there’s clear and convincing evidence of a different intent (Prob. Code §5302(a)).
• Payable-on-death accounts. On the death of the sole owner, the balance belongs to the surviving POD payee (Prob. Code §5302(b)(2)).
• Transfer-on-death deeds. A revocable TOD deed transfers real property to a named beneficiary at death and stays revocable until then (Prob. Code §5614(a)).

Joint tenancy property and property in a revocable trust are excluded when California decides whether an estate is small enough to skip probate (Prob. Code §13050(a)(1)). Nearly everything else in your sole name counts toward the small estate limit, which is $208,850 for deaths on or after April 1, 2025 (Prob. Code §13100, as adjusted under §890). Above that, your family is headed to probate. The tradeoffs between these tools and a trust are covered in payable-on-death accounts versus a trust.

Why do you ask when I acquired things if I’m married?

Property a married person acquires during marriage while living in California is community property unless a statute provides otherwise (Fam. Code §760). What was owned before marriage, inherited, or covered by a marital agreement may be separate. The answer changes what each spouse can leave and how the trust should be written. See community property in estate planning.

Is what I say at a free consultation confidential?

Yes. For the attorney-client privilege, a “client” includes a person who consults a lawyer for the purpose of retaining the lawyer or getting legal advice (Evid. Code §951). The client can refuse to disclose, and prevent others from disclosing, confidential communications with the lawyer (Evid. Code §954). Tell me about the child who struggles with money or the prior marriage. I need to know.

What does a first meeting with Ridley Law cost?

The initial consultation is free. By itself it doesn’t create an attorney-client relationship for the engagement, so you’re not committed to anything. If you move forward with a complete trust-based plan, meaning a revocable living trust, pour-over will, incapacity documents, up to two deeds transferring California real estate into the trust, and a notary who comes to your home to sign, even nights and weekends, the flat fee is $4,900. Work outside that scope, such as a trust administration dispute, is billed hourly at $500. Details are on the fees page.

What questions should I ask at the meeting?

What happens if I do nothing?

A will doesn’t avoid probate. Someone still has to petition the court to probate it (Prob. Code §8000(a)).

Who funds the trust?

A trust controls only property transferred to it. The usual method is a declaration or transfer placing the property in the trust (Prob. Code §15200(a), (b)). A pour-over will sends anything left out into the trust (Prob. Code §6300), but those assets may still need probate first.

What happens if I become incapacitated?

A durable power of attorney keeps your agent’s authority alive after you lose capacity (Prob. Code §4124), and a power of attorney for health care names someone to make medical decisions (Prob. Code §4671(a)).

What does the flat fee include, and what would take it outside the flat fee?

You should get a direct answer at the first meeting. More questions worth asking are in what to ask at a free consultation.

What happens after the first meeting?

You should leave knowing what documents you need, what they cost, and the next step. If you go ahead, I design the plan with you, you review drafts at home, and a mobile notary comes to you to sign. I record the deed moving your house into the trust, and you get a map showing how to re-register each account or update its beneficiary. The trust funding page explains that step, and the full sequence is on the process page.

Expect part of the conversation to be about debts. After a settlor dies, property in a revocable trust is subject to the settlor’s creditors to the extent the probate estate can’t cover them (Prob. Code §19001(a)). A blended family, property in another state, or a beneficiary who can’t manage money will each change the plan’s structure, so raise them early.

Does it matter who I meet with?

Yes. Ask whether the attorney you meet is the one who drafts your documents. At Ridley Law, I do the consultation and the drafting myself. My practice is fully remote, so we meet by phone or Zoom, and I serve clients in Ventura, Santa Barbara, and Los Angeles counties. If you live elsewhere, ask at the start. When you’re ready, the estate planning page describes what a complete plan includes.