Practice Areas
Estate Planning
Practice Areas
Sherman Oaks parents who want a will, a trust, or a guardian named for their children can work with estate planning attorney Alice A. Salvo, whose office is west on Ventura Boulevard in Woodland Hills. She is certified by the State Bar of California as a Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law. Call 818-676-9572 or meet by video.
For parents of young children, naming a guardian is the most important decision in an estate plan. You make it in a will. Without that nomination, a judge picks the guardian, and relatives can end up competing for the role. Our guide to writing a will walks through the choices, and guardianships explains what happens in court when no one was named.
Short absences are handled differently. A Caregiver’s Authorization Affidavit lets a relative who lives with your child enroll them in school and consent to some medical care. Starting January 1, 2026, California widened the list of relatives who can use it, and the affidavit stops being valid once the child no longer lives with the caregiver (California Attorney General AB 495 bulletin).
A will names a guardian, but it doesn’t keep your home out of court. A living trust does, and it lets you decide when children receive money instead of handing everything over at 18. Alice Salvo explains the trade-offs in trusts and setting up a trust. For a child with a disability, a special needs trust protects benefits, and estate planning for children with disabilities covers the full approach. Asset protection can add safeguards for heirs who face creditors or divorce later in life.
Unmarried partners raising children together need their plan even more, because California’s default rules don’t treat them as spouses. See estate planning for domestic partners and the firm’s overview of estate planning.
Once a child turns 18, parents lose automatic authority over the child’s medical and financial matters. If a college student is hospitalized, a parent may not get information or make decisions without paperwork. Many Sherman Oaks families have their adult children sign two documents: an advance health care directive (Probate Code section 4701) and a durable power of attorney. Learn more about healthcare directives and powers of attorney.
Many Sherman Oaks clients are planning for two generations at once. When a parent’s health declines, the firm helps with elder law, Medi-Cal planning, Medi-Cal eligibility, Medi-Cal asset protection, protecting assets from Medi-Cal, and protecting assets from nursing home costs. The Medi-Cal FAQs are a good starting point. If a parent can no longer sign documents, the family may need a conservatorship.
After a parent dies, Alice Salvo handles trust administration and probate in the Los Angeles County Superior Court. Our pages on what probate is, the probate process, dying without a will, and California inheritance law explain each step.
Alice Salvo holds an LL.M. in Estate Planning from the University of Miami School of Law and an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell. Sherman Oaks clients meet her at the Woodland Hills office or by phone or video. The firm also serves Studio City, Encino, Van Nuys, and Woodland Hills.
Usually in your will. A trust can hold the money for your children, but the guardian of the child is normally nominated in the will.
Yes. At 18 your child is a legal adult, so you need their signed health care directive and power of attorney to step in during an emergency.
From January 1, 2026, more relatives qualify to sign a Caregiver’s Authorization Affidavit for a child living with them. It ends once the child moves out of the caregiver’s home.
Name a guardian, set up a trust, or get your adult children’s documents in place. Call Alice Salvo at 818-676-9572 or use the contact page.