# Law Watch: California Estate Planning Law, Checked Every Week

> California estate planning numbers, rates, statutes and court procedures, each checked weekly against its primary source, with a dated log of every change.

Source: https://ridleylawoffices.com/law-watch/

By Eric Ridley, attorney, Ridley Law. Updated November 2026.

California estate planning law changes in small, specific ways. A dollar threshold adjusts on a set date, the IRS publishes a new interest rate every month, a bill amends the Probate Code, a Court of Appeal decides what a trust clause means. Law Watch is the group of pages on this site that track those changes. Each one is checked every week against its primary source, meaning the statute, the court’s own page, or the IRS ruling, and each one shows the date it was last verified.

Mechanical updates, like a new month’s section 7520 rate, go up once the IRS publishes them and the figure checks out against its own formula. Anything that takes judgment, like a new statute or an appellate decision, I review before it goes up. Every change is logged with its date and source on the [law updates page](https://ridleylawoffices.com/law-watch/law-updates/).

## What changed recently

- November 4, 2026: [Correction: the $750,000 primary-residence limit adjusts in 2028](https://ridleylawoffices.com/law-watch/law-updates/#2026-11-04-small-estate-750k)
- November 4, 2026: [County probate court pages updated for 2026 rules](https://ridleylawoffices.com/law-watch/law-updates/#2026-11-04-court-pages)
- November 1, 2026: [Section 7520 rate rises to 6.2 percent for November 2026](https://ridleylawoffices.com/law-watch/law-updates/#2026-11-01-7520-november)
- October 13, 2026: [No fee award for a trustee defending a claim against her personally](https://ridleylawoffices.com/law-watch/law-updates/#2026-10-13-mckinley)
- October 9, 2026: [Medi-Cal estate recovery cannot include “excess capitation”](https://ridleylawoffices.com/law-watch/law-updates/#2026-10-09-phillip)

[See every change, with sources](https://ridleylawoffices.com/law-watch/law-updates/).

## Pages Law Watch keeps current

| Page | What it tracks | Last verified | Next scheduled change |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Asset Protection Law in California: Rules and Rulings by Strategy](https://ridleylawoffices.com/law-watch/asset-protection-rulings/) | Statutes and California, Ninth Circuit, Supreme Court, and IRS rules on LLCs, trusts, exemptions, voidable transfers, and federal tax collection | November 4, 2026 | Homestead amounts adjust January 1, 2027; exemption amounts April 1, 2028 |
| [California Estate Planning Numbers](https://ridleylawoffices.com/2026-california-estate-law-changes/) | Probate and small-estate thresholds, the federal estate and gift tax exclusion, and Medi-Cal asset limits | November 4, 2026 | IRS 2027 inflation figures, expected late 2026; Probate Code §890 adjustment, April 1, 2028 |
| [Digital Assets and Cryptocurrency in a California Estate Plan](https://ridleylawoffices.com/digital-asset-estate-planning/) | California’s digital asset access law (RUFADAA) and who controls online accounts after death | November 4, 2026 | None scheduled |
| [Do California Trusts and LLCs Have to File a BOI Report?](https://ridleylawoffices.com/boi-report-california-trusts-llcs/) | Federal beneficial ownership reporting for California LLCs and trusts | November 4, 2026 | None scheduled |
| [Inherited IRA and the 10-Year Rule in California](https://ridleylawoffices.com/inherited-ira-10-year-rule-california/) | The SECURE Act 10-year rule, annual RMDs under the final regulations, IRS penalty relief, and California tax on inherited IRAs | November 4, 2026 | None scheduled |
| [Probate Notes in Los Angeles County](https://ridleylawoffices.com/guides/probate-notes-los-angeles/) | When Los Angeles posts probate notes and the deadline to clear them | November 4, 2026 | LA local rules revisions, January 1, 2027 |
| [Probate in Southern California: A County-by-County Guide](https://ridleylawoffices.com/probate-guide-socal/) | Where Los Angeles, Ventura, and Santa Barbara hear probate, filing rules, fees, and publication | November 4, 2026 | Statewide fee schedule, January 1, 2027 |
| [Section 7520 Rates by Month](https://ridleylawoffices.com/law-watch/section-7520-rates/) | The IRS interest rate used to value annuities and remainder interests, every month since January 2025 | November 4, 2026 | December 2026 rate, expected mid-November 2026 |
| [Ventura County Probate: Courthouse, Calendar, and Probate Notes](https://ridleylawoffices.com/ventura-county-probate-guide/) | Where Ventura County hears probate, the weekly calendar, will lodging, filing fees, e-filing, and remote appearances | November 4, 2026 | Ventura local rules revisions, January 1, 2027; statewide fee schedule, January 1, 2027 |

## How these pages are checked

Every figure on a Law Watch page is tied to the organization that first published it: the Legislature for statutes, the Judicial Council for adjusted probate amounts, the IRS for tax figures and rates, the Welfare and Institutions Code and the Legislative Analyst’s Office for Medi-Cal, and each superior court for its own procedures. Secondary sources, including other law firms’ websites, are never the source for a number here. When a source changes, the page that relies on it is flagged the same week. If you find an error, email [eric@ridleylawoffices.com](mailto:eric@ridleylawoffices.com).

For the rest of the library, see the [free California estate planning guides](https://ridleylawoffices.com/guides/), the [estate planning statistics and guides](https://ridleylawoffices.com/estate-planning-statistics-and-california-guides/), and the [plain-English glossary](https://ridleylawoffices.com/estate-planning-glossary-california/).

*These pages are for general information only, not legal advice. Consult an attorney about your specific situation.*