Estate Planning Attorneys for Bay Area Families and Business Owners
You don't have an estate plan yet. Or you signed your trust fifteen years ago, and life kept moving. The plan in your drawer may still describe a life you no longer live.
From our Burlingame office, we help families and business owners build new plans, and bring old ones back in line with real life.
One Firm for Every Part of Your Estate Plan
Where are you Starting From?
Estate planning is not one document. It is a set of decisions that must work together and keep working as your life changes.
No Plan Yet
Wills & Trusts
A revocable living trust, pour-over will, power of attorney, and health directive, built around your family, property, and business. We also fund the trust.
Plan is a few Years old
Estate Planning and Administration
Bring us what you have. We'll tell you plainly what still works, update it for the life you live now, and keep it current as things change.
A loved one has passed
Trust Administration & Probate
We guide successor trustees and families through notices to beneficiaries, asset inventory and appraisal, and distributions.
Family Disagreement
Trust & Estate Disputes
When family members disagree over an inheritance, we step in. We handle beneficiary disputes, trustee accountings, and will or trust contests.
When Should You Update Your Estate Plan?
Most outdated plans don't announce themselves. A trigger event does. If any of these have happened since you last signed, your plan may no longer say what you mean:
You bought or sold real estate
A property not yet titled in your trust is exposed to probate.
A child married or divorced
A new spouse or an ex may affect how inheritance flows.
A grandchild arrived.
New beneficiaries need to be named and provided for.
Your business changed
A new partner, a possible sale, or a succession question.
Your CPA flagged a tax concern
Estate tax thresholds and California property tax rules change..
It's been five years or more
Laws change. Life changes. The plan should too.
A death or illness made it feel real
Review before urgency forces a rushed decision.
You're not sure what your plan says
That alone is a reason to have someone read it.
How a plan review works
A review takes far less time, and costs far less, than the conflict it prevents.
Send what you have
Even if you're not sure it's the latest version.
We read it with you
And tell you plainly what still works.
Clear fee, then we start
You get a quote for anything that needs fixing before any work begins.
Beyond the paperwork
Own property or a business? Your plan should cover both.
Most estate plans break where they meet a deed or an operating agreement. Our real estate and business attorneys work in the same office, on the same plan.
Real Estate
Deeds moved into your trust, rental properties, and co-owned property that your heirs will inherit together.
Business
Buy-sell agreements and succession plans so your share of the company passes on the way you intend.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Estate Planning Questions, Answered in Plain English
Straight answers to the three questions we hear most from Bay Area families before they start or review a plan. For deeper questions specific to real estate or business interests, a partner will answer them directly in your first consultation.
What does estate planning cost in the Bay Area?
Estate planning costs in the San Francisco Bay Area depend on the size and complexity of the estate — real estate holdings, business interests, and family circumstances all affect scope. Danfoura Law Group quotes fees upfront before any work begins, offers flat-fee packages for most planning engagements, and provides detailed invoices showing the work performed. [ATTORNEY VERIFY: current flat-fee package pricing before publishing specific figures] In your first meeting, we scope your plan and give you a real number — before you commit to anything.
Trust vs. will in California — which do I need?
In California, a will directs who inherits property but usually must pass through probate — a public, court-supervised process. A revocable living trust holds property during the maker's lifetime and passes property to beneficiaries without probate, privately and more quickly. Most California families who own real estate benefit from a trust paired with a pour-over will. One reason the difference matters: California statutory probate fees are calculated as a percentage of the estate's gross value — not the equity — so even a mortgaged Bay Area home can generate significant court-set costs.
How often should I update my estate plan?
Estate planning attorneys generally recommend reviewing an estate plan every three to five years, and immediately after major life events: buying or selling real estate, a marriage or divorce in the family, the birth of a child, a business sale, or a move into or out of California. An outdated trust can distribute property in ways the signer did not intend.
