If you own a house in Los Angeles County, you want a trust. If you rent and your accounts all have beneficiary forms on file, a will is very likely enough, and I will tell you that in the free consultation instead of selling you something.
That is the whole test, and everything below is just the arithmetic behind it.
What each document actually does
A will tells the probate court who gets what. It only works by going through that court. A living trust holds title to your property while you are alive, and when you die your successor trustee distributes it without a judge, a filing fee, or a hearing calendar.
So the difference is not really about protection or sophistication. It is about whether your family spends eleven months in the Stanley Mosk Courthouse or three weeks at a title company.
The probate math, using real numbers
California sets attorney fees for probate by statute, Probate Code section 10810. Four percent of the first $100,000, three percent of the next $100,000, two percent of the next $800,000, one percent of the next $9 million. The executor is entitled to the same amount again. Not instead. Again.
| Gross estate | Attorney fee | Executor fee | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|
| $1,000,000 | $23,000 | $23,000 | about $46,000 |
| $1,500,000 | $28,000 | $28,000 | about $56,000 |
Now the part that catches people. Those percentages run on the gross value of the estate, before any mortgage is subtracted. A Mar Vista bungalow worth $1.4 million with $900,000 still owed on it is a $1.4 million probate. Your equity is irrelevant to the fee calculation.
Fees are the ceiling, not the invoice
Statutory fees are the maximum an attorney or executor may claim, and a family member serving as executor can waive their share. Plenty do. But you cannot count on it, and the attorney rarely waives anything.
When a will really is enough
Renters. People whose entire net worth sits in a 401(k), an IRA, and a checking account with a payable-on-death form. Anyone whose assets already pass by beneficiary designation, because those assets never touch probate in the first place.
Since April 1, 2025, AB 2016 also lets a primary residence worth up to $750,000 go through a simplified court procedure rather than full probate. That threshold moved the line for some families. In most of this county it did not move it far enough to matter, because the median home here cleared $750,000 a long time ago.
“I have talked people out of a trust maybe forty times. Usually renters in their thirties with a 401(k) and no kids. Come back when you buy property, and you will not have wasted three thousand dollars in the meantime.”
Delia Vasquez-HartWhat we charge
- Individual trust package, $2,900 flat. Trust, pour-over will, power of attorney, health care directive, HIPAA authorization, and the deed transferring your house in.
- Couple's trust package, $3,600 flat.
- Will-based package, $1,200 flat, for people who genuinely do not need a trust.
- Trust amendment, from $750.
No hourly billing on any of these. The fee is the fee, and it includes recording the deed, which is the step most online packages skip.
Questions we get asked
Can I have both a will and a trust?
You will have both. Every trust we draft comes with a pour-over will that catches anything you forgot to retitle. It is a safety net, not a duplicate.
Does a living trust save me estate tax?
No, and anyone who tells you otherwise is either confused or selling. The federal exemption is $15 million per person in 2026, roughly $30 million for a married couple using portability, and California has no state estate tax. A revocable trust is a probate tool, not a tax tool.
My house is already in joint tenancy with my spouse. Am I covered?
You are covered for the first death. The survivor then owns it alone, and when they die it goes to probate with nothing standing in the way. Joint tenancy delays the problem by one death.
How long does this take?
Two to three weeks from the consultation for most families. Signing takes about an hour, and we bring the notary.
Book the free 45-minute consultation, by video or at the Wilshire office, and bring your most recent property tax bill. That single page tells me the assessed value, the vesting, and the APN, which is most of what I need to price the job accurately.