Most people facing this search are not shopping for a lawyer in the abstract. You may be an adult child who just watched a parent's affairs come apart without a plan. You may be a surviving spouse who now realizes your own papers need attention. Or you may be newly named executor or successor trustee, unsure whether "estate planning attorney" is even the right kind of help. This page sorts out what this kind of attorney does and how a license and a specialty credential can be checked. It also explains how planning before a death differs from settling an estate after one, which is the work a grieving family usually has on its desk right now.
What an Estate Planning Attorney Does in California
Estate planning is work done while a person is alive. It produces documents that direct where property goes and who acts if that person cannot. The core California documents include:
- A will.
- A revocable living trust. A trust the person can change during life.
- An advance health care directive. It covers medical decisions.
- A durable power of attorney for finances. It names someone to handle money matters if the person becomes unable to.
California also has a statutory will form and a statutory advance health care directive form. These are fill-in documents set out in state law. Many people hear about them, and an attorney can explain where they fit and where they fall short.
Estate settlement is a different service. It is the work after a death: probate, trust administration, transferring the house and paying bills. Many California attorneys practice both planning and settlement, but they are distinct jobs. An attorney who drafts trusts all day may or may not take on a contested court case or a full probate.
This page does not explain how to create, fund or amend a will or a trust. That is the attorney's work, done for one person's facts.
The State Bar of California's Certified Specialist Designation
The word "certified" carries a defined meaning here. The State Bar of California certifies attorneys as specialists in Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law through its legal specialization program. The State Bar's brochure, What Can an Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law Certified Specialist Do for You?, lists four requirements. A certified attorney must have:
- passed a written examination in Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law;
- demonstrated extensive and varied experience in the field;
- completed additional and ongoing education requirements; and
- been favorably evaluated by other attorneys and judges familiar with their work.
The same brochure says the State Bar certifies specialists "to help the public identify attorneys who have demonstrated proficiency in specialized fields of law." It also says certification "does not mean it will cost you more," because each attorney sets their own fees.
The designation is a verifiable credential, not a requirement to practice. An attorney without it may still handle estate planning competently. Only an attorney who holds the credential can properly be described as a certified specialist, so this site uses the word "specialist" for no one.
The brochure directs readers to the State Bar's Attorney Search webpage. There, a person selects the Certified Specialists link and searches by specialty. This site names, ranks and rates no attorney or firm.
How the State Bar's Lawyer Referral Service Works
A referral service and the attorney search tool do different jobs, and the two are easy to confuse.
The attorney search tool answers a question about one lawyer you have already found. Is this person licensed? Do they hold a Certified Specialist designation? A lawyer referral service works the other way around. A person calls or writes, describes the matter, such as a will, a trust or an estate after a death, and is connected with an attorney who handles that kind of work in their area.
A referral service can say whether it holds State Bar certification, and the service itself can say what an initial consultation costs. No fee is stated here, because each service publishes its own terms.
Neither tool tells a family how the law applies to its situation. Only a licensed attorney does that. California Courts publishes self-help information for people dealing with the court itself, and that is a third, separate resource. Its Guide to property after someone dies explains the court side of probate in plain terms. It is not a referral service.
What to Look for When Choosing a California Estate Planning Attorney
License status comes first. California law is short on the point. Bus. & Prof. Code section 6125 states: "No person shall practice law in California unless the person is an active licensee of the State Bar." An active license is the baseline, and it can be checked on the State Bar's own search before any engagement. That rule matters to a family because document preparers, online services and well-meaning advisors are not the same as a licensed attorney.
Certified Specialist status is a second, optional marker. It is confirmed in the same search, as described above.
Familiarity with California-specific issues is a third consideration. Families often ask about three topics:
- Community property rules. These govern how a married couple's property is treated.
- Property tax reassessment. For transfers on or after February 16, 2021, Rev. & Tax. Code section 63.2 lets a parent-to-child transfer of a principal residence or family farm avoid reassessment, in whole or in part, when a claim is filed. The exclusion is full only if the property's market value is less than its taxable value just before the transfer plus a limit set by law; above that, the difference is added to the taxable value. In some cases the same applies to a grandparent-to-grandchild transfer. The exclusion has conditions, including that the home become the child's principal residence within one year. The county assessor's office handles the claim.
- California's simplified estate procedures. The court self-help guide explains that these can sometimes transfer property without full probate.
A family meeting an attorney for the first time often asks questions like these:
- Which documents will the plan include?
- How does property get into the trust?
- What happens to the plan if a marriage, a move or a death changes things?
- How are fees set, and what do they cover?
Contested matters are a different practice area. Disputes among heirs, claims of trustee misconduct and will contests are handled by attorneys who litigate trust and probate cases.
Estate Planning and Estate Settlement: Understanding the Difference
If someone close to you has already died, a search for an "estate planning attorney" may be pointing at the wrong door. That is common, and it is easy to correct.
Estate planning happens before a death. Estate settlement happens after one: gathering what the person owned, paying bills and transferring the rest. A probate or trust administration attorney guides the people doing that work. This site explains settlement, step by step, for the family carrying it out. The California estate settlement guide lays out the whole path.
If you have been handed one of these roles, or are trying to work out who holds which one, the terms below are the ones you are likely to meet:
- Executor. The person named in a will to be in charge of the estate.
- Personal representative. The person a judge appoints to represent the estate in probate. The California Courts guide describes this person as the one who collects the property, pays the bills and distributes what remains.
- Administrator. A personal representative appointed by the court when no executor serves, for example because there is no will. The courts guide gives the order of priority as any surviving spouse or domestic partner, then a child, then a grandchild, then a parent, and then a sibling.
- Successor trustee. The person named in a trust to take over managing it when the original trustee dies or steps down.
- Heir and beneficiary. The courts guide calls the people with a legal right to receive the property "heirs or beneficiaries." An heir is someone who inherits under California's rules when there is no will or trust. A beneficiary is someone named in a will, a trust, or an account such as a retirement or bank account.
Not every estate needs probate. The courts guide says a person's estate may need to go through probate even if they had a will, and that sometimes no court case is needed. Settlement without full probate is a common next question for families.
California Resources for Finding an Estate Planning Attorney
Depending on whether you are checking a lawyer you already have in mind, looking for one, or trying to understand the court process, a different resource below will be the useful one. Each is published by a different body, and none of them is a ranking.
- State Bar of California attorney search. Published by the State Bar, this tool confirms license status and Certified Specialist status. The State Bar's specialization brochure, linked above, points to it.
- Lawyer referral services. These connect a person with an attorney in their area.
- California Courts Self-Help Guide. Published by the Judicial Council of California, it explains probate and the simpler court procedures. It is court process information, not attorney referral.
- California Attorney General's office. Its website describes the state's role where charitable trusts and charitable gifts in an estate are involved.
- American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC). This is a national professional organization of trust and estate lawyers. It is not a State Bar body and grants no California credential.
For the other professionals an estate may involve, such as CPAs, enrolled agents and licensed fiduciaries, the California estate professionals directory explains each role and its license.
