Will Drafting

Yes. And most attorneys would call this non-negotiable. Even a fully funded living trust does not capture every asset by default. A new bank account, a final paycheck, a settlement check, a forgotten retirement rollover, or a piece of property you never retitled all sit outside the trust at death. A pour-over will catches anything left outside the trust and routes it back in. Without one, those assets follow California intestacy rules instead of your trust's distribution plan.

Yes. California Probate Code §6111 recognizes holographic wills: those written entirely in the testator's own handwriting, signed, with the material provisions (who gets what) in handwriting. No witnesses are required. They are legal, but they are also one of the most contested document types in California probate court. Ambiguous language, missing dates, and questions about whether the testator had capacity at the time of writing are common grounds for challenge. We do not recommend them as a primary estate planning tool, though they can be used as a stopgap in true emergencies.

A typed will in California must be signed by the testator in the presence of two adult witnesses, who must each understand they are witnessing a will and sign in the testator's presence (California Probate Code §6110). The witnesses do not need to read the will, and they should not be beneficiaries. A beneficiary who serves as a witness can lose part or all of their inheritance under California's "interested witness" rules. We arrange and supervise the signing in our office to make sure it is clean.

It is more nuanced than most people expect. A surviving spouse already owns half of all community property under California law, and you cannot will away their half. You can only direct your half. Disinheriting a spouse from your separate property is generally permissible if your will and pre/post-nuptial agreements are clear. Children, by contrast, can be disinherited entirely, but only if the will names them and explicitly states the intent. A child accidentally omitted from a will (a "pretermitted heir") is presumed to have been forgotten and may inherit a statutory share. We draft disinheritance language carefully to make sure your intent is what controls.

If you die intestate (without a will), California Probate Code §6400 and following dictate who inherits and in what shares, regardless of what you would have wanted. Community property goes to the surviving spouse. Separate property is split among the surviving spouse and children on a formula that depends on how many children survived. If there is no spouse or children, the estate moves up to parents, then siblings, then more distant relatives. The court appoints an administrator (often a relative who petitions for the role), and the entire process happens in public probate. Almost no one's actual wishes match the default formula.

Review your will after every major life event: marriage, divorce, the birth or adoption of a child, the death of a beneficiary or executor, a significant change in assets, or a move into or out of California. Outside those events, a routine review every three to five years is enough to catch beneficiary designations that have drifted, executors who have aged out, or specific bequests that no longer fit. We handle simple updates with codicils and full restatements when the changes are substantial, and we will tell you which is appropriate.