Probate, Trust, Real Estate Law & Estate Planning
SF Bay Area: 415-397-1515 LA: 310-488-5310
Mayo & Mayo is a California law firm in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area. Free telephone consultation. 415-397-1515 or 310-488-5310. Reasonable flat fee to prepare your estate plan. California probate statutory fee is paid by probate estate. Trustee fees are paid by trust estate.
Because there is a reasonable flat fee to prepare your estate plan to avoid probate the best time is now. If you have a revocable Trust you can avoid probate fees that can be suprisingly high, e.g. $43,000 for a $3 million estate. Moreover, there is no fee to call so we can explain the trust and probate process.
If the decedent died without a Trust and owned a home in their name you will need a court filed probate petition. We can advise and assist. There is a set statutory fee to file a probate estate administration. Our legal fees are paid at the end of the probate by the estate. Unless the court appoints someone to sign the listing agreement and purchase and sales agreement, the decedent’s home cannot be sold if there is no Trust. Once the assets including the home are liquidated and a reserve is kept for taxes and final bills the inheritance can be distributed to the beneficiaries. If there is a Will it is a testate probate case. Without a Will it is an intestate probate case.
Also, if the decedent had a Trust we can assist the trustee with Trust Administration. Trust administration includes statutory notices to beneficiaries and creditors, tax obligations and Trust accounting. Legal fees are generally paid by the Trust estate. Alternatively, we can represent you as a Trust beneficiary. Specifically, we can assist in obtaining your Trust Distribution and trust accounting from the successor trustee. Sometimes a decedent did not put an asset into the Trust during their lifetime. In that case we can file a Heggstad Petition requesting the Court fund the omitted asset into the Trust retroactively. Consequently, this is then faster and less expensive because it avoids a full probate proceeding.
We provide California Real Estate legal advice on the purchase and sale of residential real property including CAR forms. Most importantly, we advise real property Sellers on required disclosures. Disclosures include TDS, i.e., transfer disclosure statement, mold, water intrusion and other disclosures. Likewise, we can assist you in negotiating terms of a purchase and sales agreement. Lease review and drafting is provided for both commercial and residential properties. A Real Property buyer may encounter a situation where there is a failure to disclose material facts. In this situation we can represent you in mediation and litigation of your failure to disclose claims. Nonetheless, we will first attempt to arrive at a settlement before you incur mediator fees and court fees. 415-397-1515 or 310-488-5310
Terence O Mayo
Terry Mayo has a client driven practice, advising and litigating in all areas of residential real estate and commercial real estate.
As a California real estate lawyer, he represents owners of commercial real estate and residential real estate in negotiating and drafting leases, purchases and sales of California real property, tax free exchanges, construction defect claims, failure to disclose claims as well as easement and boundary disputes.
Terence Mayo received his J.D. from Berkeley School of Law (fka Boalt) and a B.A. from U.C. Berkeley.
415-397-1515
Mary Mayo
Mary’s focus is on estate planning, probate and trust administration and trust litigation with an interface of real estate matters.
Successor trustees receive advice as to their trustee duties, administration, trust accounting and defending trust claims and Trust litigation from beneficiaries. Legal fees are generally paid from the Trust estate assets for the trustee’s attorney.
Beneficiaries who are concerned about their distribution from a decedent’s estate are advised with respect to the process, whether the executor, administrator or trustee are breaching their fiduciary duties to the beneficiaries and representation of a probate beneficiary or a Trust beneficiary.
Estate plan including a Trust, Will(s) and related documents are charged a flat fee.
After receiving her J.D. from USF School of Law, Mary Mayo clerked for the Hon. Randall J. Newsome, joined the firm of Brobeck Phleger & Harrison in the litigation department and then joined a satellite telecom firm as general counsel before joining her spouse, Terence Mayo, in 2004.
Mary’s focus is on estate planning, probate and trust administration and trust litigation with an interface of real estate matters.
Successor trustees receive advice as to their trustee duties, administration, trust accounting and defending trust claims and Trust litigation from beneficiaries. Legal fees are generally paid from the Trust estate assets for the trustee’s attorney.
Beneficiaries who are concerned about their distribution from a decedent’s estate are advised with respect to the process, whether the executor, administrator or trustee are breaching their fiduciary duties to the beneficiaries and representation of a probate beneficiary or a Trust beneficiary.
Estate plan including a Trust, Will(s) and related documents are charged a flat fee.
After receiving her J.D. from USF School of Law, Mary Mayo clerked for the Hon. Randall J. Newsome, joined the firm of Brobeck Phleger & Harrison in the litigation department and then joined a satellite telecom firm as general counsel before joining her spouse, Terence Mayo, in 2004.
310-488-5310
415-397-1515
Our Areas of Practice
Real Estate, Estate Planning, Probate Law, Trust Administration and Trust Litigation
Probate
We can file a probate to name you as administrator (no Will) or executor (Will) of a decedent estate. We can represent you a a beneficiary in a pending probate estate.
Real Estate
Residential real estate purchase and sales agreement, TDS – transfer disclosure statements – and other disclosures are explained in depth by our California real estate attorney.
The real estate seller is responsible for disclosures to the potential buyers. We can assist either the real estate seller or real property buyer in private real estate purchase and sales agreements.
California leases are reviewed and drafted by our Bay Area and Los Angeles real estate lawyers – both residential leases and commercial leases.
Trust Administration
If you are a successor trustee of a decedent’s trust we can advise you as to your fiduciary duties including Trust accounting to beneficiaries, statutory notices, Trust distributions and Trust tax obligations. If there are beneficiary claims or litigation against you as trustee we can represent you as trustee of the Trust estate.
If you are a California Trust beneficiary, we can advise you on the next steps to ensure you receive your Trust distribution in a timely manner and that all statutory notices and trust accounting are provided to you. Beneficiaries do not pay income tax on an estate inheritance however there are property tax and estate tax considerations that we can discuss with you.
Estate Planning
To avoid probate in California it is critical that you have a California revocable trust – also called a living trust – if you own real property.
Although financial accounts and retirement accounts can name designated beneficiaries and thus avoid a California probate proceeding, if you own real property and/or have interests in an LLC or corporation your estate may be subject to probate upon your death.
Setting up a revocable living trust is simple, is not time consuming and is not expensive.
A trust is significantly less expensive than a probate.
Probate legal fees in California can range from $20,000 or more as the legal fees are statutory and based on the gross value of the assets (a $1 million home would be $23,000 in legal fees before court costs).
