Our Estate Plan package includes the meetings and calls needed for legal advice and drafting of your customized documents: revocable living trust (or trust restatement), will, durable power of attorney, and advance health care directive. (You can read more about each tool on our Estate Planning page.)

The package also includes the transfer of one California residence into the trust (often the family home), along with all associated recording and notarization fees.

You’ll meet with your attorney via Zoom or phone and coordinate remote signing appointments so your documents can be notarized at a time and place convenient for you. Scheduling, document sharing, reminders, and next steps are handled digitally (with email notifications).

Remote planning doesn’t mean hands-off. Our process is guided and personal without the commute.

When you hire Shafae Law, you don’t just hire a service, you gain a long-standing advisor. As life changes, we remain available to answer estate planning questions, free of charge.

• We advise clients to review their estate plan every 3 years, and sooner after major life events such as buying or selling a home, marriage or divorce, the birth of a child, retirement, or meaningful changes in assets or relationships.

• We also maintain a network of trusted professionals and can provide referrals to support the broader decisions that often come up alongside estate planning.

Meet with an attorney by Zoom or phone for a confidential consultation with no obligation. After scheduling, you’ll receive a short intake questionnaire. If you have existing estate planning documents, you can upload photos/scans for review.

Important attendance notes:

• For joint plans (married/registered domestic partnership), both spouses/partners must attend.
  

• If you’re scheduling on behalf of someone else, that individual must attend.

• You want a plan for incapacity, so someone can act for you financially and medically, without court involvement
  

• You own (or plan to own) a California home, or have assets you want organized under one plan
  

• You have children and want to nominate guardians and create a thoughtful inheritance plan
  

• You want an attorney who focuses on estate planning to advise, counsel, and draft a customized plan
  

• You value transparent, flat-fee pricing and an efficient, guided process
  

• You prefer remote services: meet via Zoom and sign remotely at a convenient time and place

• You’re looking only for a single document (for example, just a power of attorney)

• You need representation outside of California estate planning

• You’re primarily seeking tax preparation, investment advice, or litigation services
  

If any of the above apply, we may be able to refer you to a trusted professional in our network. Feel free to email our office for more information.

We’re glad to review your existing documents and advise on revisions.

To promote clarity and enforceability, we often recommend a trust restatement rather than a series of amendments. We’ll advise on the best approach after reviewing your questionnaire. Pricing for restatements is the same as our standard estate planning rates.

We offer only one complimentary consultation, and it’s most productive when we have enough information to understand your goals and circumstances. We can host a consultation without questionnaire responses, but please note: without intake information, we can provide only general guidance and may not be able to answer questions specific to your situation.

Your complimentary consultation can be by phone or Zoom, whichever you prefer. Design and review meetings are typically held over Zoom because we’re often reviewing decisions and document language together.

Our goal is to provide transparent pricing for a coordinated and effective plan. For that reason, we do not offer a la carte services or discounted rates for partial plans. 

We stand behind the value of a comprehensive estate plan because the documents work together to protect you in different situations, during incapacity and at death. In our experience, skipping one tool often creates gaps families only discover during a crisis.

In California, when a trust is administered, certain people are entitled to receive a copy of the trust and all amendments. 

If there are multiple amendments, such as changing trustees, re-ordering decision-makers, or revising distribution terms, it can create confusion and invite comparison. A restatement “resets” the document so there is one clean, updated trust to share, which can help preserve privacy, improve clarity, and reduce the risk of conflict.

Yes, support is often helpful, as long as roles are kept clear. 

• You can assist as a liaison by researching attorneys, scheduling appointments, gathering documents, and helping your loved one prepare questions. You’re also welcome to attend meetings for emotional or technical support if invited by your loved one.

• Your loved one is the client. The attorney must hear directly from them and has an ethical duty to represent their wishes and ensure the plan reflects their goals in their own words.

Founding attorney Matt Shafae has focused exclusively on estate planning and trust administration for over 18 years. Because we see both the planning side and what happens when plans are administered, we help clients avoid common pitfalls families may not anticipate. 

For many California residents, especially those with meaningful assets, blended families, or multi-generational planning goals, customized legal advice can make the investment in planning pay off.

A comprehensive plan is designed to reduce unnecessary court involvement, protect privacy, and provide a clear, legally enforceable roadmap for your loved ones if you become incapacitated and after death. 

Each tool plays a crucial role in ensuring the right people can step in and that your assets transfer the way you intend, with less stress and delay.