Estate planning, probate, and trust administration firm with offices in Murrieta and San Diego, serving Temecula, Menifee, Hemet, Lake Elsinore, Moreno Valley, Palm Springs, Perris, Riverside, Poway, and Rancho Bernardo. Consultations are not charged for and can be held remotely by video or phone.
La Mesa is in San Diego County.
More Trust Administration Firms in San Diego County
Santa Rosa trusts, estates, and elder law practice serving Sonoma County, with offices in Huntington Beach and San Diego. Handles probate, trust administration, and disputed estate and trust matters, including family conflict after a death. Barry Adams is a State Bar certified specialist in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law and founded the Elder Law Clinic at Empire Law School.
Napa estate planning and elder law practice led by Anthony Celaya, with offices across California from Santa Rosa and Sacramento to Los Angeles and San Diego. Handles probate and estate administration and Medi-Cal planning alongside trusts, wills, and incapacity planning. Clients are served in person or through virtual consultations, and the initial consultation is free.
Serves San Diego County and Southern California from Newport Avenue in San Diego, centered on probate and trust disputes. Handles probate and trust administration, contested wills and accountings, trustee removal, and breach-of-fiduciary-duty claims, plus elder law and Medi-Cal planning. Vincent M. Casiano is a State Bar certified specialist; the first 30-minute consultation is free.
Serves Orange County and San Diego from offices in Irvine and San Diego, and takes probate and trust litigation statewide. Handles trust and will contests, trustee misconduct and accounting disputes, conservatorship fights, and elder financial abuse claims, with probate and trust administration alongside. Founded in 2005; often brought in as trial counsel when an estate plan breaks down.
San Diego estate, trust, and probate firm in Bankers Hill, with clients throughout California. Guides executors and administrators through probate — identifying assets and debts, paying creditors, distributing to beneficiaries — and handles trust administration, beneficiary representation, fiduciary duty disputes, and conservatorships and guardianships.
Probate in San Diego County
Probate Court Record
San Diego County Superior Court - Probate Division
San Diego County
Phone
Hours
Monday-Friday 8:30 AM-4:00 PM
Office
1100 Union Street, 3rd Floor, San Diego, CA 92101
Website
E-filing
Filing in person
Walk-ins accepted
Self-represented filing
Allowed
Self-help forms
How to file probate in San Diego County →
Verified October 15, 2026 · Source
Do I need a lawyer for probate in San Diego County? →Settling an estate in San Diego County →
Forms for Planning and Settling an Estate in California
Free California forms to plan or settle an estate: a will, trust, powers of attorney, TOD deed and the probate forms. Prepare each form for California.
$12/month
Revocable Living Trust
Create a revocable living trust to avoid probate, protect privacy, and control asset distribution.
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Free
Pour-Over Will
In California, a pour-over will is signed before 2Cal. Prob. Code § 6110Verified Oct 18, 2026View source witnesses and moves anything left outside the trust into it through probate.
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Tools for Planning and Settling an Estate in California
Free calculators and checklists to plan or settle an estate in California: will and trust costs, probate, executor pay and taxes. Run each tool for California.
How Do I Settle a Trust?
Settling a trust in California happens outside court: the trustee acts under the state's trust statuteCal. Prob. Code § 15000 et seq.Verified Oct 17, 2026View source, notifies the beneficiaries within 60 daysCal. Prob. Code §§ 16061.7, 16061.8, 16064, 16460Verified Sep 15, 2026View source, then pays the debts and distributes under the trust's terms.
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What's Fair Trustee Compensation?
In California, trustee compensation follows "reasonable compensation" (UTC § 708 or equivalent)Cal. Prob. Code §§ 15680-15688Verified Sep 18, 2026View source unless the trust instrument sets a different amount.
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How Do I Settle an Estate?
Settling an estate in California: the personal representative files the estate inventory within 120 daysCal. Prob. Code §§ 8800-8804, 8900-8903Verified Sep 15, 2026View source of appointment; creditors have 4 monthsCal. Prob. Code §§ 9050-9054, 9100-9104, 9150, 9153, 9256, 9353, 11420; CCP § 366.2Verified Oct 18, 2026View source to present claims; a simple estate closes in 9 months to 12 months.
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Do I Have to File Tax Returns for Someone Who Died?
California requires a final state income tax return for the decedent alongside the federal Form 1040Cal. Rev. & Tax. Code §§ 17041, 17043; Cal. Const. art. XIII, § 36(f)(2)Verified Sep 20, 2026View source; a federal estate tax return (Form 706) is required only for estates above $15,000,00026 USC 2001(c), 2010; P.L. 119-21 §70106Verified Sep 15, 2026View source.
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How Does Step-Up in Basis Work?
Inherited assets in California take a basis reset to fair market value on the date of death26 USC § 1014Verified Sep 15, 2026View source, and the gain on a later sale faces ordinary income tax at the state's regular ratesCal. Rev. & Tax. Code § 17041(a), (e), (h) — rate schedule; estates/trusts taxed at individual rates; annual bracket indexingVerified Sep 15, 2026View source.
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