Practice Areas
Estate Planning
Practice Areas
For Calabasas residents, estate planning attorney Alice A. Salvo is just east of the city, at 20350 Ventura Boulevard in Woodland Hills. Most of her Calabasas clients come to her for one of four reasons: protecting the family home, settling a parent’s estate, planning for a parent’s care, or looking after a child or grandchild. Each is covered below. Call 818-676-9572 to talk it through.
For most Calabasas families, the home is the largest asset, and it is also where a missing plan costs the most.
If the house passes through probate, California sets the attorney’s fee and the personal representative’s fee by formula: 4% of the first $100,000, 3% of the next $100,000, 2% of the next $800,000, and 1% of the next $9 million (Probate Code section 10810). A $2 million estate owes $33,000 to each, and the mortgage balance doesn’t lower the figure. A revocable living trust avoids that cost, but only for property actually retitled into it. When Alice Salvo sets up a trust, she reviews the deed and each account so the house doesn’t end up outside the plan.
Property tax is the second issue. Under Proposition 19, a child keeps a parent’s tax base only on the family home, only by moving in within a year, and only up to $1,044,586 of added value for transfers through February 15, 2027 (State Board of Equalization). A second home or rental gets reassessed. Families with more than one child, or a child who won’t live in the house, usually need to decide in advance who gets the home and how the others are made whole. The firm’s Proposition 19 guide walks through the options, and the estate planning page explains what a full plan includes.
The first question is whether your parent had a trust. If they did, the successor trustee settles it privately, and Alice Salvo guides trustees through trust administration: notices, appraisals, taxes, and final distribution.
If there was only a will, or no will at all, the estate likely goes through court. Our pages on what probate is and how the probate process works lay out each stage, and when a loved one dies without a will explains who inherits under California law. Smaller estates may qualify for a shortcut: for deaths on or after April 1, 2025, a primary residence worth up to $750,000 can pass through a simplified petition (Judicial Council form DE-300). For the wider rules, see California inheritance law and the firm’s probate practice.
A fall or a dementia diagnosis often forces two questions at once: who can sign for Mom, and how will the family pay for care?
Signing authority comes from a durable power of attorney for money and an advance healthcare directive for medical decisions. Both must be signed while the parent can still understand them. Once that window closes, the family has to petition for a conservatorship, which puts the family’s decisions under court supervision.
Paying for care is the job of elder law. Medi-Cal started counting assets again on January 1, 2026, with a limit of $130,000 for one person, and that limit falls to $21,000 on July 1, 2027 (Department of Health Care Services). That gives Calabasas families a narrow window to plan. Start with Medi-Cal planning and the eligibility rules, then look at Medi-Cal asset protection, protecting assets from Medi-Cal, and protecting assets from nursing home costs. The Medi-Cal FAQs answer the questions families ask most.
Parents of young children use a will to name the guardian they trust, so a court isn’t left to choose. If no one was named, relatives can ask the court for a guardianship. Our guide to writing a will covers what to decide first.
A child with a disability needs a different structure. Leaving money outright can cut off SSI and Medi-Cal, so Alice Salvo uses special needs trusts and the approach described in estate planning for children with disabilities. Unmarried couples face their own gaps, covered in estate planning for domestic partners. For heirs who aren’t ready to manage money, or who face creditors or divorce, asset protection planning keeps an inheritance intact. The trusts page compares the options.
The State Bar of California certifies Alice A. Salvo as a Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law. She holds an LL.M. in Estate Planning from the University of Miami School of Law, carries an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell, and has more than 20 years in practice. She meets Calabasas clients at the Woodland Hills office or by phone or video. The firm also serves Hidden Hills, Agoura Hills, Topanga, West Hills, and Woodland Hills.
No. The office is at 20350 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 110, Woodland Hills, CA 91364, a short drive east of Calabasas. Many clients never come in and meet by phone or video instead.
Usually not. A will tells the court who inherits, but the house still goes through probate and its statutory fees. A funded living trust transfers the home without court.
Yes, if the parent signs a durable power of attorney and an advance healthcare directive while they still have capacity. Those documents let the family act without asking a judge.
Calabasas is in Los Angeles County, so probate is filed in the Los Angeles County Superior Court.
Whatever brought you here, start with a conversation. Reach Alice Salvo at 818-676-9572 or through the contact page.