Top Estate Planning Attorneys in Fillmore, CA (2026)

Fillmore has about 17,400 residents, a median home value near $602,000, and a median household income around $93,000, meaningfully higher than its larger neighbor Santa Paula. More than 71% of residents are Hispanic or Latino, and 68.4% of households own their homes, a high homeownership rate for Ventura County. Fillmore is a small agricultural town built around orange, lemon, and avocado orchards, packing operations, and specimen tree farming, and it is the most remote of the Ventura County cities from most law offices along the 101 corridor, including Ridley Law’s.

That distance matters less than it used to, because Fillmore has something almost no town its size can claim: a Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law with an office right on Sespe Avenue. In a county where most specialists cluster in Ventura, Camarillo, or Santa Barbara, having one physically in town is worth knowing about.

Below are estate planning attorneys who serve Fillmore, 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.

For a town of 17,000 people, having a certified specialist located in town is genuinely uncommon. It means you can sit across the table from a specialist without driving to Ventura or Camarillo first.

Beyond certification, look for:

• A practice focused on estate planning, not a general practice that also handles wills as a side item.
• Direct access to the attorney, not a paralegal-driven process.
• Flat, disclosed fees before you sign anything.
• Familiarity with Ventura County probate procedure. Fillmore matters are heard at the Ventura County Superior Court, Juvenile and Probate Division, 4353 E. Vineyard Avenue, Oxnard, CA 93036, the same courthouse that serves the entire county, not a local courthouse in Fillmore.

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Estate planning attorneys serving Fillmore

Ridley Law

Eric D. Ridley has practiced estate planning in Ventura County since 2010, working with families across Fillmore, Santa Paula, 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.

Taylor, Scoles & Bartels

Laura Victoria Kline Bartels (Bar #188000) is a Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law with an office in the McNab Building on Sespe Avenue in downtown Fillmore. Her practice covers wills, living trusts, trust administration, probate, and powers of attorney. She is, as far as this research found, the only Certified Specialist physically based in Fillmore.

540 Sespe Avenue, Suite 4, Fillmore, CA 93015. (805) 524-1934.

Becker & Dehesa, LLP

Katherine Hause Becker (Bar #277131) is the managing partner of Becker & Dehesa, based in Santa Paula, about a 15-minute drive from Fillmore. Her work covers estate planning, trust administration, conservatorships, and special needs trusts.

915 E. Main Street, Suite A, Santa Paula, CA 93060. (805) 525-7104.

ADK Heritage Law

Amy Dilbeck Kiesewetter (Bar #269627), licensed since 2010 and educated at Pepperdine, practices from the historic Davis Exchange building in downtown Santa Paula, also about a 15-minute drive from Fillmore. The practice covers wills, trust funding, and probate.

144 Davis Street, Santa Paula, CA 93060. (805) 947-4372.

Ferguson Case Orr Paterson LLP

John Mark Andersen (Bar #162930) is a Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law, certified since 2008, practicing in Ventura.

1050 S. Kimball Road, Ventura, CA 93004. (805) 659-6800.

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What Fillmore families actually deal with

Orchards, packing houses, and specimen tree farms

Fillmore’s economy still runs on agriculture: orange, lemon, and avocado orchards, packing operations, and specialty specimen tree growers that ship trees rather than fruit. Family-owned agricultural operations raise a planning problem a standard trust doesn’t solve on its own: who has legal authority to run the operation, sign with a packing house, or manage water and land-use obligations after the parent who built it is gone. If your estate includes agricultural property or a farming or packing business, talk to your attorney specifically about entity structure and management succession, not just about who inherits the land.

The distance problem, and why a local specialist matters

Fillmore sits at the far end of Ventura County from the coastal cities where most law firms cluster. That distance is a real barrier for older clients, or for families who need in-person meetings to review and sign documents. Having a Certified Specialist physically located on Sespe Avenue removes that barrier entirely for anyone who wants to keep the whole relationship local. It is worth knowing this option exists before automatically driving to Ventura or Camarillo.

High homeownership means real probate exposure

At 68.4%, Fillmore’s homeownership rate is high for Ventura County. A high rate of homeownership combined with a median home value of $602,000 means a large share of local families have most of their net worth tied up in a house that, without a trust, has to go through probate.

California probate fees are set by statute (Probate Code §§ 10810 and 10800), calculated on the gross value of the estate. On a Fillmore home at the median value of $602,000, the statutory fee runs approximately $15,040 for the attorney and $15,040 for the executor: about $30,080 in fees alone, before court costs, filing fees, or appraisals. A funded living trust avoids this process entirely.

Prop 19 and Fillmore’s housing stock

Under Proposition 19 (effective February 2021), a child who inherits a parent’s primary residence and moves in within one year can exclude up to $1,044,586 of increased assessed value from reassessment. Fillmore’s median home value of $602,000 is well under that exclusion amount, which means many Fillmore families who inherit a home and move into it will see little or no property tax increase. A child who does not move into the inherited home gets no exclusion at all, and the property is reassessed to full market value regardless of the gap between the old assessment and today’s price.

Where Fillmore probate is heard

Fillmore has no local probate court. Every Ventura County probate matter, including Fillmore’s, is filed at the Ventura County Superior Court, Juvenile and Probate Division, 4353 E. Vineyard Avenue, Oxnard, CA 93036. Of all the cities Ridley Law serves in Ventura County, Fillmore has the longest drive to that courthouse, which is one more reason to have a plan that avoids probate in the first place.

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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 Fillmore. We wrote this page, and we think you should know that. Verify any attorney’s license status and specialist certification at calbar.ca.gov.