The Contra Costa probate court remains closed.  We work throughout the state of California and are trying to keep things updated as we hear them.  With the exception of certain emergency hearings the Contra Costa Superior Court is closed until April 30, 2020.  Their press release provided: The Court has requested authorization from the Chief […]

I imagine anybody reading this blog post has thought about the serious issues related to Covid-19. Most notably of course is the death rate and the rapidly growing numbers of deaths around the world but also right here in California, USA.  I don’t want to sound all doom and gloom but I am a lawyer […]

I wanted to provide a California probate court update as I know it today.  The reality is court schedules are changing daily!  Governor Gavin Newsom issued the stay at home order a week ago.  As you likely know essential work is allowed to continue. As best I can tell different courts are doing things differently. […]

Each day things change but currently several of the probate courts we regularly work in are either fully closed or basically closed.  Counties including Sacramento, San Francisco, Alameda, Solano, Santa Clara, San Mateo, Ventura, Los Angeles, and the list goes on.  Each court is different, each day is different, and all we can do is […]

If you have the stomach for it the recent ups and downs of the stock market, primarily due to the Coronavirus it seems, are quite amazing to watch.  Up 1,000 one day, down 1,000 the next, up 700, down 600, and on it goes. Heck, yesterday (March 9, 2020) the market was down over 1,000 […]

Coronavirus is all over the news, right!?  You can’t pick up a newspaper or look at your favorite website without seeing something about Coronavirus. I even heard something this morning while listening to ESPN sports radio.  They were talking about all the people wearing face masks in the airport yesterday. The one host, on this […]

Let’s be honest some people are just DIYers and some people want it done for them. There is no judgement one way or the other.  My law firm provides extremely competent, full service, legal services. That’s what we do.  Therefore my post is about full service legal services and, in particular, the problems that can […]

I was recently contacted, as I have been many times throughout the years, by a family member (often a distant family member) who was contacted by a county employee from some county in California. It could be county counsel, county coroner or the public guardian’s office.  The one this past week was from a new […]

I find myself a little frustrated by a potential new client that has decided not to hire me… at least not at this time. Not everybody hires the best probate attorney and that’s fine. They don’t know what they don’t know. However, YOU know because you are reading this blog. So I got their voice […]

A client contacted me last week and said she needs “an actual deed in her name” so that her “document specialist” could transfer the house to her trust.  I re-sent her a copy of the court order that I recorded after her husband died. I explained that we did a spousal property petition, to transfer […]