Wills & Trusts

San Francisco Wills and Trusts Attorney

The Hardin Law Offices provides a full range of estate planning services tailored to each client's specific needs. We diligently work to create wills, trusts, and other estate planning instruments to help our clients achieve peace of mind that their assets will be preserved and their family will be protected.

Last Will and Testament

In California, if you die without a will or properly established estate plan, the Probate Court will determine how to distribute your assets to your heirs through California's intestate succession laws. Even if you have verbally stated to family members how you wish to distribute your property, it is essential to have a will or other legal document that clearly sets forth your decisions. Otherwise, your assets may or may not pass the way you would wish.

At the Hardin Law Offices, we counsel you on the complications that may arise after your death. We draft provisions in your will that effectively plan for such circumstances. We work to mitigate will contests, estate litigation, and trust litigation by drafting the document in clear language, solidifying your decisions. We utilize wills to name guardians for minor children, establish wealth succession, name executors, and address other important matters.

Trusts

A trust has many useful advantages over a simple will. However, you should never be forced to choose a specific trust—rather the trust should be tailored to meet your specific needs and objectives. A trust enables you to minimize estate taxes, pass wealth without the expense or delay of probate, control inheritance passed to minor children, provide financial support for education, or support a charity while minimizing estate-tax liability.

We prepare revocable living trusts, irrevocable trusts, life insurance trusts, charitable remainder trusts, insurance trusts, marital trusts, family trusts, AB trusts, pet trusts, special needs trusts, and other trusts. We evaluate your individual circumstances and address your concerns for the future.

Quality Legal Counsel, Providing You with Peace of Mind

In addition to establishing comprehensive wills and trusts, Hardin Law Offices assists clients with incapacity planning (through durable powers of attorney and advanced health care directives —commonly known as living wills), and other estate planning tools.

Contact our Walnut Creak or San Francisco law offices to schedule a free consultation with an experienced, professional, and highly skilled estate planning lawyer—Shannon L. Hardin.