For Californians without a trust — yet
You don’t need a trust because everyone says so. You need to know if you do.
Here’s the honest version: if you own a home in California, your estate is very likely over the small-estate limits — which means without a trust, it goes through probate: statutory fees set by law, a year or more of court process, all of it public. A funded living trust is how California families route around that.
Free • No obligation • Flat fees stated before any work begins
Where your trust stands
- DraftedNot yet
- Signed
- Funded
- Kept current
The math nobody shows you
What probate costs a California family — by statute
California probate fees aren’t negotiated; they’re set by the Probate Code on the gross value of the estate — your mortgage doesn’t reduce the number: 4% of the first $100,000, 3% of the next $100,000, 2% of the next $800,000. On an $800,000 home, that’s $19,000 for the attorney and up to another $19,000 for the personal representative — before court costs. Add 12–18 months of typical court timeline, in public record, while the family waits.
Without a trust
- Estate goes through probate court
- Statutory fees on the gross estate — tens of thousands on a typical home
- Commonly 12–18 months before heirs receive anything
- Every filing is public record
With a funded living trust
- Trust assets pass outside probate
- One flat preparation fee — paid once, while you’re alive to control it
- Successor trustee can act in weeks, not years
- Your family’s affairs stay private
What you actually get
A complete trust package — not just one document
A trust by itself is half a plan. The package we prepare at your direction covers the documents California families use together:
Revocable Living Trust
The core document holding your assets and directing how they’re managed and distributed — changeable by you while you’re alive.
Trust Transfer Deed
Moves your home into the trust and gets recorded with the county — the step that makes the trust real, included from day one.
Pour-Over Will
The safety net directing anything left outside the trust back into it.
Certification of Trust
The summary banks and title companies ask for when you retitle accounts.
Durable Power of Attorney
Names who handles your finances if you can’t.
Advance Healthcare Directive
Records your medical decisions and who speaks for you.
An honest line we won’t cross
When you should see an attorney instead
We’re a Legal Document Assistant, not a law firm — and that distinction protects you. We prepare documents at your direction; we don’t advise you what they should say. If your situation involves a blended family with competing interests, significant estate-tax exposure, a business succession, a beneficiary with special needs, or a family dispute already brewing — those call for a licensed attorney’s judgment, and we’ll tell you so in the first conversation. For the many California families whose plan is straightforward and whose decisions are already made, flat-fee document preparation is the affordable way to get it done.
How it works
From “we should really do this” to done — in four steps
Free consultation
Tell us about your family and what you own. We’ll explain the documents you can direct us to prepare, with a flat-fee quote.
You make the decisions
Beneficiaries, trustees, who gets what, who decides if you can’t — your choices, captured in a guided intake.
We prepare the package
Trust, will, powers, directive, certification, and deed — complete and ready for signature per California requirements.
Sign, record, rest easy
You execute the documents; the deed records with the county. Your plan exists — funded, not just printed.
- Bonded & Registered California Legal Document Assistant
- Flat, transparent fees
- Documents prepared at your direction
- Free, no-obligation consultation
Straight answers
Questions people ask before creating a trust
Do I need a trust if I own a home in California?
California home values routinely exceed the state’s small-estate limits, so without a trust most homeowners’ estates face probate. A funded living trust is the standard way around it. Whether it’s right for your situation is a legal question — we can’t answer that for you, but we can prepare the documents once you’ve decided.
What does probate actually cost without one?
Statutory fees run 4% of the first $100,000 of the gross estate, 3% of the next $100,000, 2% of the next $800,000 — for the attorney, and up to the same again for the personal representative. On an $800,000 estate: $19,000 each, plus court costs, plus a year or more of waiting.
Why is an LDA so much less than an attorney?
You’re paying for document preparation, not legal advice. Attorneys bill for judgment and counsel; an LDA prepares the paperwork from the decisions you’ve already made. Same documents, flat fee, no retainer — and full disclosure that we cannot and do not advise you.
Is a Legal Document Assistant legitimate?
Yes — LDAs are regulated under California Business & Professions Code §6400–6415, required to register with the county and post a bond. Ashlar LDA, Inc. is Registration No. 2026109426, bonded, registered in Los Angeles County.
How long does it take?
Once your decisions and information are in, preparation is typically days, not months. Then you sign per California requirements and the deed records with the county.
Find out what your plan would look like — free
Book a free, no-obligation consultation. We’ll explain the documents, the process, and the flat fee — and if your situation needs an attorney instead, we’ll say so.