Guides.
Plain-language guides on the decisions families and individuals face in California — trusts and wills, probate and its timeline, conservatorship and its alternatives, and the work a professional fiduciary actually does. Not a content operation; the documents we wish had existed in the difficult conversations.
Comparing the options
Plain-language guides to the choices families and individuals weigh most often.
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Trust vs. will in California
The difference comes down to probate: a will goes through it, a funded living trust steps around it — and why you may need both.
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Revocable vs. irrevocable trust in California
The difference is control: taxes, creditor protection, the step-up in basis, and who should serve as trustee.
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What is an irrevocable trust in California?
Why people trade control for protection, the common types — special needs trusts, ILITs — and the ways an irrevocable trust can still be changed.
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What is a special needs trust in California?
How it holds money for a person with a disability without losing SSI or Medi-Cal: first-party vs third-party, the payback, and why distributions take such care.
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What is a living trust in California?
What it actually is and does, the roles inside it, and why funding is the step that makes it work — before you get into the how.
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What is a family trust in California?
Why "family trust" usually just means a revocable living trust, the few cases it means more, and why the document controls, not the name.
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Trustee vs. executor in California
Which role is which: the will and the probate court go with the executor; the trust and privacy go with the trustee.
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Power of attorney vs. conservatorship in California
The difference is timing: a POA is authority granted in advance; a conservatorship is court-imposed after capacity is lost.
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Conservatorship vs. guardianship in California
Guardianship is for minors, conservatorship for adults — plus the less-restrictive alternatives the court must consider first.
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What is a conservatorship in California?
A court-supervised role for an adult who can no longer manage: of the person or the estate, the probate, limited, and LPS types, and why it is a last resort.
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Power of attorney vs. guardianship in California
Why this is the wrong frame in California — guardianship is for minors — and the comparison you actually want for an adult.
How the work is done
How a trust is set up, what the roles involve, and how long the process actually takes.
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How to set up a living trust in California
The four real stages — the plan, the attorney-drafted document, signing, and the funding step people skip — and where a professional fiduciary fits in.
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What does a trust cost in California?
Three costs people confuse: creating the trust, administering it after death, and the statutory probate cost of not having one at all.
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The successor trustee in California
What the job is, the duties the Probate Code imposes, the 60-day beneficiary notice, and how to appoint a professional one.
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How long does probate take in California?
Most California probates run 12 to 18 months, with a mandatory four-month creditor period as the floor. What sets the timeline.
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What does an executor do in California?
Getting appointed, the inventory, the creditor window, paying debts and taxes, and distributing the estate — plus the statutory fee and the personal liability.
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What is a power of attorney in California?
Financial versus health-care authority, durable versus springing, when it begins and ends, and what the agent can and cannot do.
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Durable power of attorney in California
What makes a POA durable and why it matters, immediate versus springing, and how one signed in time can keep a family out of conservatorship court.
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Who can override a power of attorney in California?
The principal while capable, a court, or a conservator — and why a spouse or relative cannot do it alone, plus what to do if an agent is abusing the authority.
When the situation is specific
Guides for the circumstances that bring families and individuals to a professional fiduciary.
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No spouse, no children: who manages your money and care?
Aging without close family in California: who steps in for your finances and care, and how to plan ahead while you are still clear.
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Managing a California estate or parent from out of state
A matter in California while the family lives elsewhere: local presence here, coordinated with your family and advisors wherever they are.
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What is a geriatric care manager?
What an Aging Life Care Professional does, what they cost, and how the role differs from a professional fiduciary.
If a question here touches your own situation, the next step is a conversation.
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