Looking for a good Trust and Estate Attorney
I heard from my real estate agent that if you own a house in CA, you need to get a trust to avoid high probate fees for your beneficiaries, in the case of your passing away. Can someone recommend an attorney who does trusts and wills? I would prefer an attorney with a kindly disposition but also highly competent. Thank you!
Sep 25, 2023
Parent Replies
I highly recommend Summerall Law on Piedmont Ave. in Oakland (https://www.summeralllaw.com/). We worked with them to create our trust and wills. They charge a flat rate that is very reasonable, it is quick, and the attorneys were a pleasure to work with. They even give you a highlighted page of next steps after your trust is created (putting the title of your house in the name of the trust, etc.).
We used Summerall Law and they were fantastic and made it so easy for our clueless selves!
www.summeralllaw.com
Tell then you heard about them from BPN for a slight discount. Really nice people too!
My whole family (which includes some attorneys) has used Nicole Davidson at NicoleDavidsonLaw.com. She is amazing!
We live in Piedmont and own a home so we needed to get a trust. There is a wonderful trust and estate attorney based in Castro Valley named Christina Chung. Her website is https://www.christinachunglaw.com. Honestly, planning a trust felt like an overwhelming task and we delayed for a long time. But Christina made the process so simple and easy, explaining everything along the way. She's super organized and reliable and her fee was modest. She's super competent -- she's a graduate of Harvard Law School! Truly, she exceeded my expectations.
We had a great experience with Peter Shelton in downtown Berkeley. He was knowledgeable and friendly. He listened well when we described our situation and had useful suggestions. His website is petersheltonlaw.com
Yes! Very important to have a trust. I highly recommend Michele Ting at Watson and Machado. She works out of their Silicon Valley office (they also have offices in San Francisco and Sacramento). I believe she will meet virtually if that is preferable to you. Michele is warm, knowledgeable, efficient, and yes highly competent. I have worked with several trust and estate attorneys. I recommend Michele without reservation.
She's a bit of a drive away (in the Penninsula), but I highly recommend Quynh Tran, who is part of the Bay Wealth Legal Group. She is friendly and knowledgeable, and she will make sure you only come into the office when absolutely necessary.
If you have the option for a legal plan through your employer, I would highly recommend that. I used Jennifer Brown jennifer [at] wadelawcorp.com for this plus all the other estate planning, health care directive, etc stuff and she was great (it was through MetLife legal plan so I paid next to nothing). I don't know what her rates are otherwise. She is based in Roseville but the entire process was done via phone, email, and mail, and was much easier than I could've hoped for. I found her through a coworker who had also used her.
We used Katelyn Phillips and Jim Phillips - they have offices in Castro Valley and San Mateo and did all our standard estate planning stuff. They definitely made it easy. Katelyn left the practice for a new job. Jim may or may not have another attorney since that occurred in 2021.
I've used Christina Chung as well. She was great. I live in Berkeley and we did all our meetings on zoom, with the final signing meeting in person. She has a very friendly and kind personality. I highly recommend her.