Sacramento estate plans are built around California's probate threshold, the small-estate affidavit, and the revocable living trust.
Estate planning in Sacramento usually centers on the revocable living trust. California probate is slow and expensive — statutory attorney's fees on a $1M estate run roughly $23,000 — so most California estate plans are designed to avoid probate using a funded trust, pour-over will, durable powers of attorney, and advance health-care directive. A Sacramento estate planning attorney needs to know the local probate rules, the prop 19 reassessment rules for real property transfers, and California's small-estate procedures.
These ten Sacramento estate planning firms were selected based on California State Bar Certified Legal Specialist (Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law) credentials, Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers recognition, Avvo 10/10 ratings, and consistent surfacing on Justia and Expertise.com. We do not accept payment for placement.
How we picked these 10: We do not accept payment for placement, and we do not write sponsored reviews. More on our methodology → | How to compare firms →
Practice focus: Estate planning, trust administration, probate, trust litigation
Daniel A. Hunt is a California State Bar Certified Legal Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law; named Best of the Bar by the Sacramento Business Journal and Super Lawyer.
Strong fit when you want a Certified Specialist running the plan and a firm equipped for both planning and post-death administration.
Practice focus: Estate planning, trust administration, real estate, probate
Founded by Michael Yee in Sacramento with offices in Folsom and Roseville; flat-fee transparency ($2,300 single, $2,600 couple) for standard estate plans.
Strong fit when you want predictable flat-fee pricing for a standard living-trust package and a multi-office Sacramento footprint.
Practice focus: Estate planning, trust administration, probate
Sacramento firm providing estate planning and administration since 1989; multiple attorneys are California Certified Legal Specialists in Estate Planning, Trust, and Probate Law.
Strong fit when the estate is complex, blended-family, or includes business interests requiring multi-specialist attention.
Practice focus: Estate planning, probate, trust administration, real estate
John B. Palley is a California Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law, Super Lawyer, and Avvo 10.0 'Superb'.
Strong fit when the matter touches both real property and estate planning — the firm is a Sacramento real-estate-and-estate institution since 1979.
Practice focus: Trust and estate litigation, will contests, undue influence claims
Michael Hackard has AV Preeminent (Martindale-Hubbell) and Avvo 10/10; firm attorneys selected for Super Lawyers.
Strong fit when the matter is contested — will contest, trust dispute, or trustee-beneficiary conflict — rather than basic planning.
Practice focus: Estate planning, elder law, Medi-Cal planning, trust administration
Long-running Sacramento estate planning and elder law firm with a focus on planning and asset protection for aging clients.
Strong fit when the planning needs to account for long-term care, Medi-Cal qualification, or elder financial abuse risk.
Practice focus: Estate planning, business succession, employment, civil litigation
Sacramento full-service firm with an established estate planning and business succession practice.
Strong fit when the estate plan must integrate with a business succession plan or buy-sell arrangement.
Practice focus: Estate planning, trust administration, probate
California estate planning boutique with a Sacramento footprint; high Avvo ratings.
Strong fit when you want a smaller-firm experience and the planning is moderate-complexity (taxable estate, multi-generational trusts).
Practice focus: Probate, trust administration, estate planning
Northern California probate and trust administration boutique with decades of practice.
Strong fit when the immediate need is post-death administration (a relative just passed, probate is needed) rather than planning.
Practice focus: Estate planning, probate, business succession
Sacramento estate planning and probate firm with established credentials in trust drafting and administration.
Strong fit when the planning is more involved than the standard package — irrevocable trusts, GRATs, dynasty trusts.
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Fit your situation, not just the practice area. A estate planning firm that does mostly executive matters is a different fit from one that does mostly working-class matters. Call the firm and ask: “What does a typical client look like for you? What does a typical case look like?” If the answer is your situation, you are in the right place.
Ask who actually handles the case. Many firms market on the senior partner and route day-to-day work to a junior associate. That is not automatically bad — junior associates can be excellent — but you should know who you are working with. Ask: “Who will I be talking to day-to-day? How often does the senior partner sit in?”
Compare quotes side by side. Most Sacramento firms on this list offer a free or low-cost initial consultation. Use two of them. Compare fee structure, retainer terms, and the answers to the same set of questions across firms.
Sacramento estate planning is mostly flat-fee. Standard living trust package (single): $1,800-$3,000. Standard package (couple): $2,300-$3,800. Trusts with complex provisions (special needs, asset protection, irrevocable life insurance trust) add $1,500-$5,000 per provision. Probate (statutory fees): $23,000 on a $1M gross estate; $13,000 on $500K; $6,400 on $200K. Trust administration: typically hourly at $300-$500/hour, total cost often $5,000-$25,000 depending on assets.
A standard Sacramento estate plan takes 4-8 weeks from initial meeting to signed documents: intake meeting (week 1), draft review (weeks 2-4), signing meeting (weeks 5-6), funding (weeks 6-8). California probate runs 9-18 months from petition to final distribution, longer if contested. Trust administration without probate runs 6-12 months for a typical estate. Will contests and trust litigation often run 12-24 months.
Sacramento probate and trust matters are heard in Sacramento County Superior Court — Probate Division (Department 129 historically). Will contests and trust disputes follow Probate Code procedures with their own evidentiary standards. Federal estate-tax matters touch the IRS only; California has no state estate tax. Out-of-state real property requires ancillary probate where applicable.
California estate planning law has its own contours. The local landscape differs in meaningful ways from neighboring states.
California probate is slow and statutory-fee-heavy. Statutory attorney fees on a $1M gross estate: roughly $23,000. The fees scale with gross estate value (not net), so a $2M estate with a $1M mortgage still incurs $2M-tier fees. Probate avoidance via a funded revocable trust is the standard plan.
Prop 19 changed the reassessment rules for inherited real property. Prior parent-child reassessment exclusions were narrowed in 2021. Inherited real property is now reassessed unless the child uses it as their primary residence within one year. Plans drafted before 2021 should be reviewed.
Small-estate affidavit threshold is $208,850 (adjusted for inflation). Probate Code 13100 lets heirs collect personal property without probate if the gross estate is under the threshold. Useful for modest estates.
California has no state estate tax. Only federal estate tax applies, with a $13.99M exemption per individual in 2025 (sunset to roughly half in 2026 absent congressional action). Plans should account for the post-sunset environment.
The first hundred Google results for “estate planning lawyer Sacramento” include thousands of firms. Most are competent. A handful are problems. The patterns to walk away from:
Guaranteed outcomes. No ethical attorney can guarantee a result. If a firm promises a specific recovery or dismissal, leave.
The vanishing partner. You meet a senior name at intake, then never speak to them again. Ask in writing who handles your case from day to day.
Pressure to sign immediately. Reputable firms give you the retainer in writing, time to read it, and the option to take it home. High-pressure intake is almost always a volume mill.
No verifiable track record. The firm should point to published verdicts, settlements, peer rankings, or bar recognition. Specific cases, numbers, and third-party rankings are evidence. “We have helped thousands of clients” is marketing.
Vague fee terms. Every legitimate Sacramento lawyer will give you a written engagement letter with the fee structure, what is covered, what triggers extra charges, and what happens if you fire them. If the firm cannot put that in writing, walk away.
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The free consultation is short — usually 30 to 45 minutes. The lawyer cannot give you a serious case assessment without the documents. Bring the file. Most consultations turn into useful guidance only after the attorney has seen the paper trail.
The paper trail. Every email, text, and letter that touches the matter. Print or PDF the threads in chronological order. If you have a contract or written agreement, bring the signed version and any drafts that show what was negotiated. For court matters, bring every filed document and any orders that have issued.
A written timeline. One page. Bullet points. Date on the left, what happened on the right. Lawyers think in chronology — a timeline is the single most useful artifact you can prepare.
Names and contact information. Everyone involved on the other side, anyone who witnessed the events, your prior attorneys (if any), and the relevant insurance carriers or institutions. A lawyer needs to run a conflict check before taking the case; a short list saves time.
Your goals, in writing. What does a good outcome look like? What does an acceptable outcome look like? What is non-negotiable? A lawyer who knows your goals can tell you whether the case is worth the cost.
Most Sacramento estate planning firms on this list offer a free or low-cost initial consultation. Use it. Bring a list of questions, write down the answers, and compare across two firms before you sign.
Probably yes if you own real property or your estate exceeds the small-estate threshold (~$208K). California probate is slow and expensive — statutory fees on a $1M estate run roughly $23,000. A funded revocable living trust avoids probate.
Standard single-person trust packages run $1,800-$3,000 flat. Couples typically run $2,300-$3,800. Complex provisions (special needs, irrevocable life insurance trust, dynasty trust) add $1,500-$5,000 per provision.
Revocable living trust, pour-over will, durable power of attorney for finances, advance health-care directive, HIPAA authorization. Most Sacramento packages bundle these together at a single flat fee.
A will distributes assets after death but requires probate in California for estates over $208K. A funded living trust distributes assets without probate. Most California estate plans use both — the trust holds assets, the pour-over will catches anything not transferred to the trust.
Prop 19 (effective February 2021) narrowed the parent-child reassessment exclusion. Inherited real property is now reassessed at fair market value unless the child uses it as their primary residence within one year. This significantly raises property taxes on most inherited California homes.
No state estate tax. Only federal estate tax applies, with a $13.99M exemption per individual in 2025. The exemption is scheduled to drop in 2026 absent congressional action.
9-18 months from petition to final distribution for an uncontested probate. Will contests or trust disputes add 6-12 months. The statutory fee schedule applies to the entire process.
For simple wills in modest estates, online services can work. For California estates with real property, a Sacramento estate planning attorney is generally worth the cost — California probate avoidance, Prop 19 planning, and proper trust funding all require local knowledge that online services do not provide.
One last thing. Choosing a lawyer is personal. Read the reviews. Call two or three firms before you sign. Ask each one: How many cases like mine have you taken to verdict in the last three years? The answer tells you what you need to know. — The LawFirmSquare team