Oakland is a city where families put down roots, build real wealth, and create legacies worth protecting. Von Rock Law is here to help Oakland residents do exactly that. Our team works with clients across the East Bay to create estate plans that reflect their lives, honor their wishes, and protect the people they love.
Alameda County home values have risen significantly in recent years, and many Oakland homeowners now hold estate assets well above California’s probate threshold without realizing it. Our attorneys understand both California estate law and the specific dynamics of Oakland’s real estate market, community property rules, and Alameda County probate procedures. We bring that knowledge to every plan we build for East Bay clients.
Our team can help you whether you want to protect your loved ones in the event of death, grant legal authority to someone you trust to manage your finances or medical care if you become incapacitated, or ensure your property and assets pass to your heirs without delay or court involvement.
Through our personalized estate planning process, every decision you make today creates a clear path for your family’s future. We review your goals, analyze your assets and family structure, and build an effective plan to transfer your wealth to the right people at the right time.
Oakland’s multi-generational communities mean many of our clients are thinking about more than finances. They are thinking about family businesses, cultural legacies, and ensuring the people who carry things forward are properly equipped to do so. We take the time to understand what matters to you beyond the balance sheet.
Whether you are creating your first estate plan or updating one that no longer reflects your current life, an estate planning attorney in Oakland, CA can help. Contact us today. We make the process simple.
Alameda County probate proceedings are handled through the Alameda County Superior Court in Oakland. Like most California counties, the process is public, time-consuming, and expensive, often taking 12 to 18 months and costing thousands of dollars in court and attorney fees. Every Von Rock Law estate plan for Oakland clients is structured to help your family avoid that process entirely, keeping your estate private and your heirs out of court.
Our estate plans include the following legal documents:
Your trust holds title to your Oakland property, financial accounts, and other assets during your lifetime and transfers them directly to your beneficiaries at your death without going through Alameda County probate. For Oakland homeowners, this is the single most effective tool to keep your home and estate details out of the public court record.
Your pour-over will works alongside your trust to capture assets not transferred during your lifetime and direct them into the trust at death. For Oakland parents, this document also names a guardian for your minor children so that Alameda County courts have clear guidance on who you want to care for them if you are no longer here.
We help you create a document that authorizes the person or organization you trust most to make legal and financial decisions on your behalf if you are unable to do so yourself. For Oakland small business owners, this document is especially important to ensure your business continues to operate smoothly during a health crisis or period of incapacity.
With this legal document, you designate a trusted person to handle your medical decisions if you cannot do so yourself and communicate your treatment preferences to East Bay healthcare providers. It protects your family from having to make critical medical decisions without any guidance from you.
From first-time homeowners in East Oakland to longtime property holders in the Oakland Hills, Von Rock Law offers estate planning options for every level of complexity and every stage of life.
The most common choice for Oakland homeowners and families. Oakland’s appreciating real estate market means many residents now hold assets well above California’s probate threshold. This comprehensive trust-based plan protects your home and other assets, appoints the successor trustee of your choosing, and ensures your property passes directly to your family without Alameda County probate.
Designed for Oakland clients with multiple investment properties, business interests, blended family arrangements, or assets approaching or exceeding the federal estate tax threshold. This plan incorporates advanced tax planning, multi-property deed transfers, and sophisticated distribution structures to address your full estate picture with the precision it requires.
Once your child turns 18, HIPAA laws prevent you from accessing their medical records and FERPA prevents their university from speaking with you without written consent. Whether your student is headed to UC Berkeley, Cal State East Bay, or a school across the country, this plan gives you the legal authority to step in when it matters most.
Von Rock Law serves Oakland and the greater East Bay fully via Zoom, so there is no need to travel to San Francisco. Our award-winning team, recognized by Super Lawyers and SFGate, is ready to help you build an estate plan that protects your Oakland home, your family, and everything you have worked for. Book your free consultation today.
Yes, and it is more urgent than many Oakland residents realize. Under California law, any estate with solely owned assets exceeding $184,500 must pass through probate if not held in a trust. Given that Oakland median home values now exceed $800,000, most homeowners easily clear that threshold. Without a trust in place, your home will go through Alameda County probate, a public and expensive process that can take well over a year to resolve.
An estate plan created by Von Rock Law is a solution to protecting and preserving your estate in the case that you die or become incapacitated. It contains the following legal documents:
Living Trust A legal document that places some or all of your assets in the control of a trust during your lifetime.
Will A legal declaration of a person’s wishes regarding the disposal of their property or estate after death.
Durable Power of Attorney A durable power of attorney refers to a power of attorney which typically remains in effect until the death of the principal or until the document is revoked. A durable power of attorney, the durability of which must be explicitly stated, remains valid even in the event the principal is unable to make personal decisions due to incapacity.
Advanced Health Care Directive A legal document that explains how you want medical decisions about you to be made if you cannot make the decisions yourself. An advance directive lets your health care team and loved ones know what kind of health care you want, or who you want to make decisions for you when you cannot.
An estate plan not only ensures your family and assets are protected in the case you die or become incapacitated, but it also helps your estate avoid Alameda County probate, a long and costly process. For Oakland homeowners in particular, a properly funded revocable living trust is the most effective way to protect your property and ensure it transfers directly to your heirs without court involvement.
Our Custom Estate Plan is a comprehensive trust-based estate plan which is appropriate for most estates including those with minor children or other minor beneficiaries, for those requiring protections for beneficiaries and for blended families. This estate plan works toward eliminating probate court proceedings, appointing successors to manage the Trust after your death, and directs the distribution of your assets.
One 30 minute consultation meeting by telephone, video conference or in person
Revocable Living Trust
Certification of Living Trust
Last Will & Testament **
Durable Power of Attorney **
Advanced Health Care Directive **
Authorization of Release of Medical Records (“HIPAA”) **
Assignment of Personal Property **
Personal Property Memorandum **
Trust Transfer Deed (one property)
Recording Deed with county recorder
One opportunity to request edits to above documents with respect to client-provided information
Recording fees included
Preliminary Change of Ownership Report
Final signing meeting
Complete instructions regarding plan
Notary fees included
Personalized estate planning binder with all original documents
Digital PDF copies of your entire plan
Additional Deeds with ancillary documents and recording fees begin at $1000 for California properties and for out of state US properties, subject to confirmation of non-California recording fees.
Up to five hours with our staff for emails, phone calls, zooms or in person meetings to address your questions regarding the maintenance of your estate plan, funding, coordination with agents, potential amendments, family meetings or other ongoing trust maintenance concerns.
A 5% discount on billable matters for which you may further retain us, such as drafting additional plan documents and amendments, or for another practice area.
Deluxe custom estate plans are appropriate for individuals with substantial assets and sophisticated planning needs, and who require estate tax planning features for estates exceeding the estate tax threshold of $12,060,000 for individuals or $24,120,000 in community property for married couples. These plans include all of the offerings of the Custom Estate plan, but will also address such circumstances such as complicated blended families, citizenship issues, multiple real estate holdings, multiple beneficiary designations, integrated special needs trusts, or otherwise more sophisticated distribution plans.
We are offer a college care plan that will allow parents to still be able to act for their 18+ children for medical, financial and legal purposes, and to distribute the child’s assets should the child pre-decease the parent. This plan includes a Durable Power of Attorney, Advance Health Care Directive, HIPAA and Simple Will which identifies not more than two beneficiaries with outright inheritance. Further, this plan includes a generic FERPA Consent Form that will authorize parents to communicate with a college regarding the student’s classes, transcripts, grades and more. Many educational institutions will have their own forms for this Consent which may be required, but if not, our standard form should be accepted.
This plan includes a 30 minute consultation and the cost of online notary fees arranged by this office. Digital and paper copies of the plan documents will be provided.
Estate Plan revisions are provided on an hourly basis and estimates of the projected cost are provided to the client before work commences. Simple revisions to Estate Plans are often in the 2 – 3 hour range, with more complex revisions taking longer, bearing in mind that each circumstance is unique.
PLEASE NOTE – We will not amend plans that we did not draft. We will prepare re-statements of Trusts and new documents for planning documents we did not generate.