Top Estate Planning Attorneys in Calabasas, CA (2026)

Calabasas has about 22,000 residents, a median home value near $1.8 million, and more than 20 gated communities layered on top of a much older town center. Old Town Calabasas still has the 1844 Leonis Adobe standing on Calabasas Road. A few miles away, communities like The Oaks, Mountain View Estates, Calabasas Park Estates, and Westridge sit behind guard gates, with The Estates at The Oaks holding roughly 50 custom homes, none smaller than 10,000 square feet.

Median household income here runs close to $165,000, the median age is 42.8, and about 68.5% of homes are owner-occupied. That combination means most Calabasas families aren’t renting their way through a career and moving on. They own significant real property, often inside a gated community with its own HOA and CC&Rs, and that property needs a plan for what happens to it.

Below are estate planning attorneys who actually serve Calabasas, with verifiable credentials. This is not a ranking. It is a starting point for doing your own homework.

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How to vet an estate planning attorney

The California State Bar certifies attorneys as Legal Specialists in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law. Fewer than 1% of California attorneys hold this credential. It requires passing a written exam, demonstrating substantial experience, and submitting to peer review. You can verify any attorney’s specialist status at calbar.ca.gov.

A certified specialist is not automatically the right fit. But the designation tells you the attorney has submitted to outside scrutiny in this specific area of law, which is more than most marketing claims can say.

Beyond certification, look for:

• A practice focused on estate planning, not a general practice that also “does” trusts.
• Direct access to the attorney, not a paralegal-driven mill that hands you a binder.
• Flat, disclosed fees. If an attorney won’t tell you the cost before you sign, that tells you something.
• Familiarity with gated-community transfers. Moving real property in and out of a trust when the property sits inside an HOA with recorded CC&Rs is not the same paperwork as an unrestricted parcel, and an attorney who has never handled one will learn on your file.
• Familiarity with where Calabasas probate is actually heard. It is not local. Los Angeles County probate matters, including Calabasas, are filed at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse, 111 N. Hill Street, downtown Los Angeles, roughly 25 miles from Calabasas.

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Estate planning attorneys serving Calabasas

Ridley Law

Eric D. Ridley has practiced estate planning in Ventura County since 2010, working with families across Calabasas, Agoura Hills, Westlake Village, and the surrounding area. The firm handles living trusts, wills, powers of attorney, advance healthcare directives, trust administration, and probate. Flat-fee pricing, disclosed before engagement. Free 30-minute initial consultation by phone or video.

567 W. Channel Islands Boulevard, Suite 210, Port Hueneme, CA 93041. (805) 244-5291.

Pacella Law Group

Louis Pacella (State Bar #227616, admitted 2003) is the only attorney on this list with an office physically located in Calabasas. His practice covers estate planning, business law, trust litigation, and conservatorship. That combination matters if a Calabasas matter turns contested, since not every estate planning attorney also litigates trust disputes.

5000 N. Parkway Calabasas, Suite 219, Calabasas, CA 91302. (805) 496-0500.

Ferguson Case Orr Paterson LLP

John Mark Andersen (State Bar #162930) has been a Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law since 2008. He holds a JD from UC Hastings and is known for representing public figures, a relevant point for Calabasas clients who bought into gated communities partly for the privacy. The firm’s primary office is in Ventura, with a presence in Westlake Village as well.

1050 S. Kimball Road, Ventura, CA 93004. Westlake Village office also available.

Westlake Law Group

David Esquibias (State Bar #171327) is a Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law who also holds an LLM in Taxation. That dual credential is useful for Calabasas families whose estates involve significant appreciated real property or business interests, where tax planning and trust drafting need to work together.

Westlake Village, CA 91361.

Stephens Law Group

James Stephens (State Bar #195148) is a Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law based in nearby Agoura Hills, a short drive from Calabasas.

Agoura Hills, CA 91301.

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What Calabasas families actually deal with

Trust transfers inside a gated community

More than 20 gated communities in Calabasas means more than 20 sets of CC&Rs, HOA approval requirements, and architectural committees layered on top of the deed itself. Transferring a home in The Oaks, Mountain View Estates, Calabasas Park Estates, or Westridge into a living trust is still a straightforward deed transfer under California law, but the HOA may require notice, updated contact information for the trust as the new record owner, or documentation before it will recognize the trustee’s authority for community matters. An attorney unfamiliar with gated-community HOAs may not know to check the CC&Rs before recording the deed.

Old Town Calabasas and the Estates at The Oaks are two different planning problems

Old Town Calabasas, anchored by the Leonis Adobe, has some of the oldest housing stock in the city. Families who have owned there for decades are more likely to be sitting on a large gap between assessed value and current market value, which raises Proposition 19 questions when the property passes to children. The Estates at The Oaks, by contrast, is newer construction with homes starting at 10,000 square feet and price tags that put even a modest inheritance well past the point where probate fees become expensive in absolute dollars. A Calabasas estate plan has to account for which kind of property it’s actually protecting.

Privacy provisions matter more here than in most cities

Calabasas has a higher concentration of entertainment-industry and high-profile residents than most Los Angeles County suburbs, which is part of why the gated communities exist in the first place. A living trust keeps the terms of an estate private. A will does not. Once a will goes through probate, it becomes a public court record that anyone, including a reporter or a curious neighbor, can pull. For Calabasas families who bought privacy along with the house, an unfunded trust or a plan that still relies on a will defeats the purpose.

The probate math on a Calabasas home

Probate fees in California are set by statute (Probate Code §§ 10810 and 10800), calculated on the gross value of the probate estate, not the net equity. On a Calabasas home at the city’s median value of $1.8 million, the statutory fee is $31,000 for the attorney and $31,000 for the executor. That is $62,000 in statutory fees alone, before court costs, filing fees, appraisals, or any petition for extraordinary compensation. On a home in The Estates at The Oaks worth $4 million or more, the number climbs well past six figures.

A funded living trust avoids probate entirely. The cost of a trust is a fraction of those fees. The difference is that you pay for the trust while you’re alive and in control, or your family pays for probate after you’re gone and has no say in the cost.

Where Calabasas probate is heard

Calabasas is in Los Angeles County, and LA County probate matters are centralized. If an estate goes through probate, it is filed at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse, 111 N. Hill Street, downtown Los Angeles, not at a local Calabasas or San Fernando Valley courthouse. Families sometimes assume there’s a closer option. There isn’t. Your attorney should know this without being told.

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Credentials listed are drawn from the firms’ own public information, the State Bar of California, and public court records. This page is not a ranking and is not an endorsement. Ridley Law is listed first because we publish this page, not because of any ranking; we are included because we serve Calabasas. We wrote this page, and we think you should know that. Verify any attorney’s license status and specialist certification at calbar.ca.gov.