Senior California couple embracing at home, reassured their living trust keeps their estate out of probate
Estate Planning · San Jose & All of California
Registered & Bonded LDA #268, Santa Clara County Verify ↗

Keep your home and family out of probate court

In California, dying without a living trust can put your family through 12 to 18 months of public probate and tens of thousands in statutory fees — roughly $38,000 on an $800,000 home. A living trust avoids all of it. We prepare living trusts and handle probate at a flat fee, never by the hour.

Schedule a Consultation Call (408) 766-3532
From $950 living trust Probate from $500 EN · VI · ES Registered & bonded LDA #268
Quinnie Do, Registered Legal Document Assistant LDA #268, founder of TruPoint Legal in San Jose

Prepared by Quinnie Do, LDA #268

Registered & Bonded · Santa Clara County

Quinnie founded TruPoint Legal and holds three California credentials — Registered Legal Document Assistant, Commissioned Notary Public, and Registered IRS tax preparer. A native Vietnamese speaker, she prepares living trusts and probate paperwork at your direction, at a published flat fee. Learn more about TruPoint Legal.

Where to start

Living trust or probate: which does your family need?

Estate planning in California comes down to two paths. A living trust is prepared while you are alive: you place your home and accounts into the trust, name a successor trustee, and your family inherits privately, in weeks, with no court. Probate is the court process that happens after a death when there was no trust — it is public, usually takes 12 to 18 months, and charges statutory fees based on the gross value of the estate.

For most California homeowners, a funded living trust is the way to avoid probate entirely. If a loved one has already passed without one, probate (or a simpler spousal or small-estate procedure) is how the estate is settled. TruPoint Legal prepares the documents for both paths at a flat fee — and we confirm which one fits your situation before any work begins.

Two ways we help

Plan ahead, or settle an estate

Living Trust

From $950 individual · $1,500 joint

Plan ahead so your home and savings pass directly to your family, privately and without probate court. Built to take effect the moment it is needed.

  • Revocable living trust + pour-over will
  • Durable power of attorney & healthcare directive
  • Funding instructions and notarization
Living trust preparation in San Jose

Probate

Small Estate Affidavit $600 · No court

Most estates never need a courtroom. We prepare the no-court documents — the small estate affidavit and the affidavits that clear a deceased owner from title. Court petitions we refer to a probate attorney.

  • Full probate, spousal, and small-estate options
  • Every petition, notice, inventory, and accounting
  • Flat fee, not a share of the estate
Probate document preparation
A trust only avoids probate once your home is actually titled in it. Funding your trust takes a separate property deed — we prepare and record it for a flat $325 per property. See our trust transfer deed page, or our full deed transfer and recording services.
Flat fees, quoted before you commit

What estate planning actually costs

A California attorney typically charges $3,000 or more for a living trust, and probate statutory fees run into the tens of thousands — roughly $38,000 on an $800,000 home. As a Registered Legal Document Assistant, TruPoint Legal prepares the same documents at a published flat fee, so most families pay only a small fraction of attorney cost.

Living Trust

$950
Individual. Joint (married couple) is $1,500. Includes pour-over will, powers of attorney, healthcare directive, and notarization. See living trust details →

Probate Alternatives

From $325
Small Estate Affidavit $600; affidavit of death from $325. Court petitions referred to a probate attorney. See probate details →

Trust Funding Deed

$325
Per property. Transfers your home into your trust so it actually avoids probate. Always priced separately, never bundled. See trust transfer deed →

Trust Amendment

From $200
Update beneficiaries, trustees, or terms in an existing living trust without starting over. Discuss an amendment →

Court filing and county recording fees are passed through at cost and confirmed at intake. Every fee is quoted before any work begins.

Why families choose TruPoint

The same documents, without the attorney bill

Published flat fees

One price, confirmed before any work begins. No hourly billing and no share of your estate.

Service in your language

We work with families in English, Vietnamese, and Spanish, so the most important decisions are never lost in translation.

Three California credentials

Registered Legal Document Assistant, Commissioned Notary Public, and Registered IRS tax preparer — trust, deed, and notarization handled under one roof.

Verifiable credentials

Registered and bonded LDA #268 in Santa Clara County — confirm it directly on the County Clerk-Recorder and CALDA websites.

Common questions

Estate planning in California, answered

Do I need a living trust, or is a will enough in California?
A will does not avoid probate — it actually triggers it. If you own a home in California, a will alone still sends your estate through public probate court. A properly funded living trust passes your home and accounts directly to your family without court. Most California homeowners need a living trust, not just a will. You can read more about living trust preparation.
How does a living trust avoid probate?
When your home and accounts are titled in the name of your trust, they are no longer in your name alone at death, so there is nothing for the probate court to administer. Your successor trustee distributes everything privately, usually within weeks. The key step is funding — titling the assets into the trust — which is why we also prepare the trust transfer deed for your home.
Can a Legal Document Assistant prepare a living trust without an attorney?
Yes. California law authorizes a registered Legal Document Assistant to prepare living trust and probate documents at your direction, at a flat fee. An LDA does not give legal advice or represent you in court; we prepare your documents accurately and completely so you can sign and file with confidence. TruPoint Legal holds LDA #268 in Santa Clara County.
How much does a living trust cost, and what is included?
A TruPoint living trust is a flat $950 for an individual and $1,500 for a joint (married couple) package. It includes the revocable living trust, a pour-over will, durable power of attorney, advance healthcare directive, funding instructions, and notarization. Transferring your home into the trust is a separate $325-per-property deed.
What happens to my house if I die without a trust in California?
It goes through probate. The court appoints someone to administer the estate, the process becomes public record, and statutory fees are charged on the home’s gross value — roughly $38,000 on an $800,000 home, regardless of the mortgage. The process commonly takes 12 to 18 months. A funded living trust avoids all of this.
How long does probate take in California, and how much does it cost?
A full probate typically runs 12 to 18 months. Attorney and executor fees are set by statute as a percentage of the gross estate, which often reaches tens of thousands of dollars. Most estates avoid that entirely: if the qualifying personal property is $208,850 or less, a small estate affidavit collects it with no court at all, flat $600. TruPoint does not prepare court petitions and refers those to a probate attorney. See probate alternatives for which route fits.
Do you also transfer my home into the trust (fund it)?
Yes. An unfunded trust does not avoid probate, so we prepare and e-record the deed that moves your home into your trust for a flat $325 per property. It is priced separately from the trust itself and never bundled, so you always see exactly what you are paying for.
Do you serve families outside San Jose?
Yes. Our office is in San Jose and welcomes walk-ins, and we serve families throughout California remotely. To get started, complete our intake forms or contact us.
My trust came from an online service. Is it valid, and what is missing?
Usually valid, and usually incomplete in two specific ways. First, the house is often never deeded into it — signing a trust and funding a trust are separate acts, and an unfunded trust sends the family to probate anyway. Second, most template packages never include a certification of trust, which is the document banks, brokerages, and escrow ask for to confirm you may act as trustee. We prepare the trust transfer deed at $325 per property and the certification at $200. Nothing is wrong with your trust; it is just not finished.
What is the difference between a will and a living trust?
A will directs who receives your property, but it is administered through probate court — it does not avoid it. A living trust holds title to the property during your lifetime, so on death the successor trustee distributes it under the trust terms without a court. A will also becomes a public court record; a trust does not. Most California plans use both: the trust does the work, and a pour-over will catches anything never transferred into it.
Do I still need a will if I have a living trust?
Yes — a pour-over will, which is included in our packages. It is the safety net for anything that never made it into the trust: a car, a bank account opened later, a property bought after the trust was signed. It directs those assets into the trust on death. It does not avoid probate for those assets, which is exactly why funding the trust properly matters more than the will does.
Will putting my house in a trust raise my property taxes or affect my mortgage?
Neither, in the ordinary case. Moving your own home into your own revocable trust is not a change in ownership for California property tax purposes, so the assessed value and your Proposition 13 base year are unaffected. On the mortgage side, the federal Garn-St Germain Act bars a lender from enforcing a due-on-sale clause when residential property with fewer than five units goes into a living trust where you remain a beneficiary and occupancy does not change. The Preliminary Change of Ownership Report still has to report the transfer correctly, which is part of what we prepare.
Someone has died. What do I do first?
Get the last recorded deed, because how title was held decides everything that follows. Joint tenants means an affidavit of death of joint tenant. Community property with right of survivorship means an affidavit of death of surviving spouse. Property in a trust means an affidavit of death of trustee, and the successor trustee will usually also need a certification of trust for the bank. If the deceased owned in their own name alone, a probate route applies — and where the qualifying personal property is $208,850 or less, a small estate affidavit may avoid court entirely. Send us the deed and we will tell you which before you pay anything.
Can I change my trust later?
Yes, as often as you like while the trust is revocable and you have capacity. A trust amendment changes specific provisions; a restatement replaces the whole body of the trust while keeping its original name and date, so property already titled in it does not have to be re-deeded. What you must not do is cross out a name and write in a new one — handwritten changes on a signed trust do not amend it and create real ambiguity for whoever administers it later.
Can you prepare it if I live out of state or outside the country?
Yes, at the same flat fee. Everything up to signing runs by email and phone. A trust package needs more than a deed does, so it is worth knowing in advance: a notary handles the trust declaration and certification, the pour-over will needs two witnesses rather than a notary, and the power of attorney and healthcare directive accept either. So you need a notary and two adult witnesses — and the witnesses to the will must not be people who inherit under it. From abroad the acknowledgment is normally taken at a U.S. embassy or consulate; tell us which country before you book, because some consulates require the witnesses to be booked in as well.
What do you need from me to get started?
For a trust package: the full legal names of everyone involved, who you want as successor trustee and as agent under the powers of attorney, who receives what, and a list of the real property with addresses and APNs. For anything after a death: the recorded deed and a certified death certificate. Intake takes about ten minutes and nothing is charged until we confirm the flat fee. If you are not sure whether you need a trust at all, describe your situation — sometimes the honest answer is a transfer on death deed or nothing at all.

Protect your family from probate, at a flat fee

Whether you are planning ahead with a living trust or settling a loved one’s estate, we will tell you which path fits and exactly what it costs — before any work begins.

Schedule a Consultation Call (408) 766-3532
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First, confirm what’s on title

Not sure who currently holds title, or whether a lien is recorded against the property? Run a property title report first to confirm the owner of record and any recorded liens before you proceed.