Flat fees. No hourly surprises.
A fraction of a lawyer’s $7,500+ — settle the whole trust, or pay for just the one filing you need.
Paid from the trust, not your own pocket. It’s a reimbursable cost of settling the estate.
| What’s included | Settlement Roadmap See what your estate needs Free free account · no payment Start free | Non-court affidavits One asset to transfer from $200 no court involved See below ↓ | Simplified court petitions Heggstad · spousal · succession $700–$1,400 + court filing fee See below ↓ | Most chosen Trust or Estate Settlement Assets already in a trust — we settle it all $1,800 one flat fee — asset search included Get started | Full Probate No simplified path fits — we prepare every filing $3,000 + court filing fee & publication See below ↓ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| We get you oriented | |||||
| Map your California roadmap and deadlines | |||||
| Remind you before each deadline comes due | |||||
| Organize your asset inventory | |||||
| We do the paperwork | |||||
| Review your case and prepare the documents | |||||
| Record the deed with your county recorder | |||||
| Make corrections and refile if anything is rejected | |||||
| Sign off on every filing — a registered California LDA | |||||
| Serve notice on every required party | |||||
| E-file with the superior court | Add-on | ||||
| Track court status and hearing dates | Add-on | ||||
| We find the assets | |||||
| Search accounts, policies & unclaimed property | Add-on | ||||
| Compile what we surface into your inventory | |||||
| Order the probate-referee Inventory & Appraisal (DE-160/161) | As needed | As needed | |||
| We settle the whole trust or estate | |||||
| Serve the trustee's 60-day §16061.7 notice | As needed | ||||
| Open the trust or estate's tax ID (EIN) | |||||
| Prepare the certification of trust | |||||
| Prepare the affidavit of death of trustee to clear title | As needed | ||||
| File the Prop 19 exclusion and retitle the home | |||||
| Retitle the accounts and move the funds | |||||
| Tell you what each bank and the county needs, step by step | |||||
| Prepare the final accounting, distribute & close | |||||
| Track both clocks so you know when it's safe to distribute | |||||
| We prepare the whole court-supervised probate | |||||
| Open the estate and obtain Letters (DE-111) | |||||
| Publish notice and run the 4-month creditor claim period | |||||
| Prepare and file for every hearing your case requires | |||||
| You attend the hearings — we prepare everything you file | |||||
| We answer your questions | |||||
| A named expert you can contact | |||||
| Response time | Email · within 72 hrs | Email · within 48 hrs | Email · within 48 hrs | Email or phone usually same day, no extra charge | Email or phone usually same day, no extra charge |
- Map your California roadmap and deadlines
- Remind you before each deadline comes due
- Organize your asset inventory
- Response time — Email · within 72 hrs
- Map your California roadmap and deadlines
- Remind you before each deadline comes due
- Organize your asset inventory
- Review your case and prepare the documents
- Record the deed with your county recorder
- Make corrections and refile if anything is rejected
- Sign off on every filing — a registered California LDA
- +Order the probate-referee Inventory & Appraisal (DE-160/161) — as needed
- A named expert you can contact
- Response time — Email · within 48 hrs
- Map your California roadmap and deadlines
- Remind you before each deadline comes due
- Organize your asset inventory
- Review your case and prepare the documents
- Record the deed with your county recorder
- Make corrections and refile if anything is rejected
- Sign off on every filing — a registered California LDA
- Serve notice on every required party
- E-file with the superior court
- Track court status and hearing dates
- +Order the probate-referee Inventory & Appraisal (DE-160/161) — as needed
- A named expert you can contact
- Response time — Email · within 48 hrs
- Map your California roadmap and deadlines
- Remind you before each deadline comes due
- Organize your asset inventory
- Review your case and prepare the documents
- Make corrections and refile if anything is rejected
- Sign off on every filing — a registered California LDA
- Serve notice on every required party
- +E-file with the superior court — add-on
- +Track court status and hearing dates — add-on
- Search accounts, policies & unclaimed property
- Compile what we surface into your inventory
- +Serve the trustee's 60-day §16061.7 notice — as needed
- Prepare the certification of trust
- +Prepare the affidavit of death of trustee to clear title — as needed
- Tell you what each bank and the county needs, step by step
- Track both clocks so you know when it's safe to distribute
- A named expert you can contact
- Response time — Email or phone, usually same day, no extra charge
- Map your California roadmap and deadlines
- Remind you before each deadline comes due
- Organize your asset inventory
- Review your case and prepare the documents
- Record the deed with your county recorder
- Make corrections and refile if anything is rejected
- Sign off on every filing — a registered California LDA
- Serve notice on every required party
- E-file with the superior court
- Track court status and hearing dates
- +Search accounts, policies & unclaimed property — add-on
- Compile what we surface into your inventory
- Order the probate-referee Inventory & Appraisal (DE-160/161)
- Open the trust or estate's tax ID (EIN)
- File the Prop 19 exclusion and retitle the home
- Retitle the accounts and move the funds
- Prepare the final accounting, distribute & close
- Track both clocks so you know when it's safe to distribute
- Open the estate and obtain Letters (DE-111)
- Publish notice and run the 4-month creditor claim period
- Prepare and file for every hearing your case requires
- You attend the hearings — we prepare everything you file
- A named expert you can contact
- Response time — Email or phone, usually same day, no extra charge
These are 5 different jobs, not 5 tiers of one job. Most people need only one — answer 5 questions and we’ll tell you which.
Every price is a flat fee. Affidavits are detailed under Non-court affidavits; Heggstad, spousal, succession & full probate under Court petitions. Petitions can be added to Trust or Estate Settlement — quoted up front.
A real California LDA reviews every filing — big or small.
Whether it’s a single $200 affidavit or a whole trust or estate, a registered, bonded California Legal Document Assistant reads your case and signs off before anything is filed.
What would a lawyer charge for your estate?
California sets statutory attorney fees by estate value (Prob. Code §10810). Slide to see the difference.
Move the slider to see how attorney fees change with estate value.
Non-court affidavits
Sometimes only a single asset has to be transferred. If that’s all you need, pay only for that.
Home already in the trust
Records you as successor trustee so a home already held in the trust can be sold or transferred.
Learn more →Small Estate Affidavit
Collects bank and personal accounts under the California small-estate limit — no court, no probate.
Learn more →Jointly-owned home
Clears a deceased co-owner off the title of a home held in joint tenancy.
Learn more →Affidavit of Death of Spouse
Confirms a surviving spouse's title to community property held with the person who passed.
Learn more →TOD Deed Affidavit
Completes a recorded transfer-on-death deed so the home passes to the named beneficiary.
Learn more →Real Property Affidavit
Transfers real property under the California small-value real-property limit without full probate.
Learn more →Court petitions
Some transfers need a judge. The three simplified petitions each confirm that one asset passes to one person — one hearing, no inventory, no creditor period, no accounting. Full probate is the complete court-supervised administration when no simplified path fits. Either way your registered California Legal Document Assistant prepares the petition, you sign it, and they file and serve it — still a flat fee, still no lawyer’s office.
Full Probate
The complete court-supervised process, start to finish — open the estate, inventory and creditor claims, then final accounting and distribution. Our most comprehensive service, for estates no simplified path can reach.
Heggstad Petition
Brings an asset that was left out of the trust — an account, an investment, or the home — back into it by court order.
Once the court approves, we’ll credit what you paid toward full Trust or Estate Settlement — just the $400 difference, quoted up front.
Learn more →Spousal Property Petition
Confirms property passing to a surviving spouse without a full probate case.
Learn more →Succession to Real Property
Transfers a primary residence under the California limit through a simplified court petition.
Learn more →Prices are flat service fees. Government and third-party costs — county recording, court filing, certified mailing, and any required publication — are separate and passed through at cost. You’ll see the estimate before you pay.
You’ll see your exact price before you pay anything.
One flat fee. No surprises.
Not sure which of these applies to you? Talk it through with a licensed LDA — or answer 5 questions and see your path and exact price yourself.