California Living Trust Attorneys
At CunninghamLegal, we guide savvy, caring families in the protection and transfer of multi-generational wealth.
Practice Areas
Find The Right Path For You
CunninghamLegal helps individuals, families, and business owners plan with confidence through thoughtful, comprehensive planning and trusted guidance. While our core focus is estate planning, trust administration, tax planning, and business planning, we also guide clients through asset protection, special needs planning, real estate matters, Proposition 19 planning, and more.
Meet Our Team of Expert California Trust Lawyers
Our team of California Trust, Tax Planning, and Real Estate attorneys take a highly personal approach to our work. We devote time and effort to fully understanding your assets, your personal goals, and the concerns you have for passing assets on to your loved ones; then we design a customized plan just for you. In our extensive practice we also provide trust administration, probate representation, tax planning, real estate matters, asset protection strategies, and much more.
Estate Planning offices throughout California
If you are searching for a trust attorney in California, CunninghamLegal maintains estate planning offices throughout the state.
Northern California: Auburn, Folsom, Oakland Hills, Roseville, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Rafael, Santa Rosa, Walnut Creek
Southern California: Huntington Beach, Los Angeles, Pasadena, Westlake Village, Woodland Hills
We also serve clients statewide by phone and videoconference.
Please contact us at one of our offices to learn more about how our superb estate planning attorneys can protect you and your loved ones.
Three Levels of Estate Planning
Estate planning is not one size fits all, which is why CunninghamLegal offers three levels of estate planning based on your life, family, and goals. Each level provides increasing protection and strategy, from essential estate documents to advanced legacy planning designed to preserve your wealth.
Level One
Your Estate Plan
Level Two
Your Family Plan
One of the following:
Level Three
Your Legacy Plan
Your Answer to Finding a Trusted California Trust Attorney
Expert guidance from the start: From your first call, we take the time to understand your family, your goals, and your assets. This lets us create an estate plan that truly helps protect what matters to you most.
Comprehensive, tailored estate planning: We focus on creating living trusts, reducing taxes, and structuring your affairs properly to avoid probate and court intervention. Every estate plan is designed to fit your family’s unique situation.
Experience you can trust: California estate laws are complex and always evolving. Our dedicated team specializes in living trusts full-time, helping your plan stay current and avoid costly mistakes.
Easy, stress-free process: We know families are busy. You provide the information, we handle the rest. We’re always available to answer questions and provide ongoing support.
- California Trust
Specialists - Experience &
Ongoing Support - Customized Family
Solutions - Explore Our
Resources
California Trust & Estate Law Specialists
Not all attorneys have deep experience in California Living Trusts and estate planning. Many draft trusts occasionally, which can lead to costly mistakes over time.
A knowledgeable California Trust attorney can help you:
Experience, Longevity, And Ongoing Support
Estate and trust planning is not a one-time event. Your estate plan should evolve as your family, assets, and the law change.
CunninghamLegal offers:
Customized Solutions for Complex Family Situations
Every family is different, and standard documents often fall short.
We assist clients like:
Work with a Trusted California Living Trust Lawyer
CunninghamLegal serves individuals, families, professionals, and business owners throughout California.
We can help. Find the resources you need:
Avoid probate
through accurate
trust drafting
Preserve SSI and
public benefits for
loved ones
Properly structure
retirement accounts
and inheritances
Protect Prop 13
property tax benefits
under Prop 19
Special needs and disabled dependents requiring care planning, financial protection, and legal support for long-term wellbeing and security.
Blended families by creating tailored estate plans that address unique family dynamics, protect assets, and provide clear legal structure for long-term security.
Asset protection and inheritance planning by developing strategies to protect wealth, reduce risk, and support the transfer of assets to future generations.
Explore our online webinars and get your questions answered by expert estate attorneys.
Jim Cunningham, our founder, wrote the best-selling Savvy Estate Planning, outlining the ten biggest estate planning mistakes.
Stay informed with our expert blogs, covering estate planning tips, trust strategies, and ways to help protect your family & assets.
Request a Call with a Client Specialist
Our Client Specialists (non-attorney) are here to learn about your goals and schedule you
with the appropriate CunninghamLegal attorney who can best serve your unique situation.
Ready to speak with someone now? Call our office: (866) 988-3956
California Trust Attorney Frequently Asked Questions
A California trust attorney helps families create, fund, and manage trusts as part of a comprehensive estate plan. Services include drafting revocable and irrevocable trusts, advising on tax-efficient wealth transfer, and coordinating trust administration after a death.
You should hire a trust attorney in California as soon as you need to create or update a living trust, handle estate administration after a loss, or resolve inheritance disputes. Issues involving fiduciary duty, trustee conduct, or beneficiaries’ rights require specialized guidance, and California probate law sets strict deadlines that make early action critical.
A living trust can help you avoid probate entirely in California. When properly funded, it allows your assets to pass directly to your beneficiaries without going through the court process, which can take 12 to 18 months and generate significant fees. Every asset must be titled in the trust’s name for this protection to work.
You may still need a California trust lawyer even if you already have a trust in place. Tax laws, family circumstances, and California estate planning rules change frequently, and a trust that worked several years ago may have gaps today. Any qualified living trust attorney California families work with should review your plan regularly and make updates so it still does what you intended.
A trust administration attorney guides the successor trustee through their legal obligations after a death. This includes inventorying assets, notifying beneficiaries, filing tax returns, settling debts, and distributing assets according to the trust’s terms. California sets strict deadlines for each step, and fiduciary duty requirements make professional guidance essential.
Choosing the right trust attorney in California starts with finding a trust lawyer. California trust and probate law is complex and constantly evolving, so you need a trust attorney California families can count on for full-time estate planning experience. At CunninghamLegal, our CA trust attorney team also coordinates with CPAs and financial advisors so your plan accounts for taxes, asset protection, and long-term family goals.
A trust attorney in California typically charges based on the complexity of your estate and the scope of services involved. Many firms, including CunninghamLegal, offer an initial consultation to understand your situation before quoting a fee. The investment usually saves families far more in avoided probate costs, tax exposure, and legal disputes down the road.