Most families don’t have an estate tax problem. They have an income tax problem, a property tax problem, and a plan written by three professionals who never spoke to each other. I model the taxes you’re actually paying, design the structure that changes the number, and draft it — one attorney, one plan, no product commissions.
from $4,500 flat — Tax & Estate Diagnostic
Quoted up front, credited in full against implementation within 90 days.
R&D tax credits have their own page — eligibility screening, the startup payroll offset (up to $500k/yr against payroll taxes), and study coordination. R&D Tax Credits for startups & product companies →
It means the tax model and the legal documents come from the same place. A CPA can project your taxes but can’t draft a trust. An estate planner drafts trusts but rarely models the income tax consequences. An insurance agent structures trust-owned life insurance but is paid by the carrier. Integrated planning starts with a quantified model of your position, then designs and drafts the structure that changes it — reviewed as one system, across generations.
Business owners and founders planning growth or exit · real estate investors with appreciating California property · families coordinating transfers across generations. Above the federal exemption, the advanced transfer toolkit applies; below it, the plan concentrates where your money actually goes — income tax and property tax.
$4,500 flat · $7,500 multi-entity
The written plan everything else is priced from.
Credited 100% against implementation within 90 days.
from $4,000 per structure, flat
Drafted, funded, and coordinated — at the price quoted in your plan.
Third-party costs (studies, corporate trustees, premiums) quoted separately and passed through — never marked up.
from $750/month
Structures need administration. That’s a subscription, not a scramble.
I design trust-owned life insurance structures; independent licensed producers — or yours — place the policy. I receive no commission on any policy, ever. My only fee is the flat legal fee you approve in advance.
The federal estate exemption is $15 million per person in 2026. California has no estate tax. Below roughly $30 million of household net worth, “estate tax planning” is a solution to a problem you don’t have — while income tax and property tax quietly compound. The diagnostic models what you actually pay, and the plan aims there. Where your estate does exceed the exemption, the full transfer toolkit applies — modeled, not pitched.
Attorney-drafted foundational plans typically run $3,000–$7,000 in California; advanced irrevocable trust work runs $4,000–$15,000+. My fees are flat and quoted up front: foundational plans from $4,000, advanced structures quoted individually in your diagnostic plan.
If you own a home or more than $208,850 in assets, very likely. Without a trust, an estate above that amount generally goes through probate (a simplified petition covers a primary residence worth up to $750,000 for deaths on or after April 1, 2025). Probate is public, often takes a year or more, and carries statutory fees: on a $1 million estate, $23,000 to the attorney and another $23,000 to the executor, figured on gross value without subtracting the mortgage. A funded revocable trust avoids it. The full math is in Do you need a living trust in California?
A revocable living trust, a pour-over will, a durable power of attorney for finances, and an advance health care directive, plus the deed that moves your home into the trust. The deed is the step that makes the trust work: a trust that doesn’t hold the house can’t keep it out of probate. Foundational plans are flat, from $4,000.
No. I design trust-owned life insurance structures and work with independent licensed producers — or yours — to place the policy. I receive no commission on any policy. My only fee is the flat legal fee you approve in advance.
Generally no — and precision here matters more than promises. Since 2023, California taxes incomplete-gift non-grantor trusts (“ING” trusts) as grantor trusts for resident grantors, and California-source income is taxed regardless of where a trust sits. What careful non-grantor trust planning can still do: manage brackets, defer, and change the treatment of non-California-source income — with real trade-offs I’ll model before you sign anything.
An engineering-based analysis that reclassifies building components into shorter depreciation lives, accelerating deductions. Whether it helps depends on your property, your income type, and passive-activity limits — which is exactly what the diagnostic models before you spend $5,000–$15,000 on a study.
Usually, yes. Since February 16, 2021, a parent-to-child transfer is reassessed to market value unless it is the family home (or family farm) and the child makes it their principal residence within one year. Even then the exclusion is capped: if the home’s market value exceeds the parent’s assessed value by more than $1,044,586 (for transfers through February 15, 2027), the excess is added to the child’s assessment. Rentals and second homes are reassessed in full. Planning the transfer path before it happens is one of the highest-value moves available to California families holding appreciated property.
No — I plan and draft; your CPA files. I coordinate with your CPA directly (or refer you to one), so the plan and the return tell the same story.
No. I’m based in Long Beach and licensed throughout California, and I work with clients statewide. Deeds are recorded in the county where the property sits, and I handle recording in any California county.
This is planning work. The firm does not accept tax controversy, audit, or litigation engagements. Where a dispute is already live, the matter calls for tax controversy counsel, and the firm will say so.
Written and reviewed by Ian Daily, California attorney · Last reviewed
from $1,500 flat
Eligibility screening and study coordination for companies that build product — including the payroll offset for pre-profit startups.
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from $2,500 flat
Entity formation done so the paperwork matches the plan — including the founder equity and IP assignment most DIY filings skip.
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from $1,500/month
Ongoing counsel on a monthly retainer — review queue, compliance calendar, advisory hours, replies in one business day.
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I read every submission personally and reply within one business day — including when the honest answer is that this isn’t a fit.