What an Estate Planning Attorney Does for Your Future

Short answer: An estate planning attorney drafts and funds the legal documents that control what happens to your money, your property, and your medical care if you become incapacitated or when you die, including a will or living trust, a power of attorney, and a health care directive. In California, a will alone does not avoid probate, and an estate with more than $208,850 in gross assets generally has to go through the court supervised probate process under Probate Code § 13100. The attorney’s job is to build a plan that fits your family and your assets, not hand you a generic form.

What does an estate planning attorney actually do?

An estate planning attorney prepares the documents that make your wishes legally enforceable: a will, a revocable living trust if one fits your situation, a financial power of attorney, and an advance health care directive. Beyond drafting, the attorney makes sure the plan is actually funded, meaning your house, accounts, and other assets are retitled into the trust if you have one. A trust that is never funded does not avoid probate for the assets left out of it.

The attorney also explains the tradeoffs between a will based plan and a trust based plan, keeps the plan current as California law changes, and revises it when your life changes: a marriage, a divorce, a new child, a move, or the purchase of property.

How does an estate planning attorney help you avoid probate?

A will requires probate to take effect. It does not avoid probate; it only tells the probate court what to do once the case is open. A funded revocable living trust is the tool that actually keeps assets out of probate, because the trust owns the assets and the trustee can distribute them without court involvement.

Avoiding probate has a real cost consequence in California. The probate schedule pays the executor and the estate’s attorney identical statutory fees under Probate Code §§ 10800 and 10810: 4 percent of the first $100,000, 3 percent of the next $100,000, 2 percent of the next $800,000, and 1 percent of the next $9,000,000. On a $1,000,000 estate that works out to $23,000 for the executor and another $23,000 for the attorney, or $46,000 in ordinary fees before court costs or bond. Setting up a properly funded trust is how an attorney helps you avoid that expense entirely. Read more about how probate works in California.

Does an estate planning attorney reduce estate taxes?

California has no state estate tax and no state inheritance tax, under Revenue and Taxation Code § 13301. On the federal side, the 2026 estate and gift tax exemption is $15,000,000 per person, or $30,000,000 for a married couple, under IRC § 2010(c). Most Californians will never owe federal estate tax at that exemption level. For most clients, an estate planning attorney’s tax role is less about avoiding estate tax and more about basis planning: deciding whether to gift an asset during life or leave it at death, since the two paths carry different income tax consequences for whoever inherits.

Does an estate planning attorney handle healthcare and incapacity decisions?

Yes. An estate planning attorney prepares an advance health care directive and a financial power of attorney alongside your will or trust. These documents name someone you trust to make medical and financial decisions on your behalf if you become unable to make them yourself, and they let you put your own preferences in writing rather than leaving family members to guess. Learn more about powers of attorney.

Without these documents in place, your family may need to go to court to get authority to act for you, a process that is slower and more public than having the paperwork ready in advance.

When should you hire an estate planning attorney?

There is no single right moment, but certain events are common triggers: buying a home, having a child, getting married or divorced, starting a business, or receiving an inheritance. Waiting does not make the decision easier. It just means more time passes without documents in place if something unexpected happens.

A complete trust based plan at Ridley Law, including a revocable living trust, pour-over will, incapacity documents, and the deed moving a California home into the trust, is a flat $4,100 for a married couple and $3,700 for a single person.

Figures verified July 2026.

What to do next

If you own a home, have minor children, or want to keep your family out of the probate court, start with a conversation about whether a will based plan or a trust based plan fits your situation. An estate planning attorney can walk through your specific assets and tell you what actually needs to change. See how the estate planning process works.