Estate Planning & Probate Attorney in Santa Ana, CA
As the Orange County seat, Santa Ana is home to the Civic Center and the Old Orange County Courthouse, and its historic neighborhoods, such as French Park and Floral Park, are known for their older homes. The Soto Law Group helps Santa Ana residents write estate plans that protect their homes and families, settle a loved one’s estate or trust, and step in legally when an adult relative can no longer manage on their own.
We are a short drive away, at 4041 MacArthur Boulevard in Newport Beach near John Wayne Airport. Probate, trust and conservatorship cases for Santa Ana families go to the Orange County Superior Court. Until May 2023, Santa Ana’s own Central Justice Center handled them; since the move, they are currently heard at the Costa Mesa Justice Complex on Harbor Boulevard.
Our Santa Ana Practice Areas
- Estate Planning in Santa Ana: trusts and wills, plus the powers of attorney, medical directives and guardian nominations that round out a plan, including ways to keep a family home on course for the next generation.
- Probate in Santa Ana: guidance for executors and administrators through every Orange County probate filing, from the opening petition to the closing order.
- Trust Administration in Santa Ana: a clear path for successor trustees through notices, the family house, tax filings and final distributions.
- Conservatorships in Santa Ana: a court-supervised way to protect an adult relative who can no longer handle medical decisions or money.
- Will & Trust Disputes in Santa Ana: representation when a will, a trust, a late amendment or a fiduciary’s conduct is in question.
- Inheritance Rights in Santa Ana: support for heirs and beneficiaries who are being kept in the dark or shortchanged.
Why Santa Ana Families Choose The Soto Law Group
- Personal attention from your attorney. You work directly with Romelia “DeDe” Soto, whose more than 20 years of legal experience guide our work, with support from Thomas Roll (Of Counsel) and Associate Attorney Jessica Munoz.
- One team from planning to settlement. The attorneys who draft plans here also administer estates and trusts, so we see firsthand what helps a family after a death and what gets in the way.
- At home in the county’s courts. Orange County Superior Court filings, hearings and deadlines are everyday work for us, including the probate matters currently heard in Costa Mesa.
- Straight answers. You hear what to expect, what it may cost and what comes next, in everyday language, from the first meeting until the file is closed.
Historic Homes and Family Property in Santa Ana
If you own one of Santa Ana’s older homes, or a house your family bought decades ago, your plan needs to answer a few specific questions. Is the deed actually in the trust, or did it fall out during a refinance? Have you planned for Proposition 19? An inherited home generally goes to a new, higher property tax assessment when it passes from parent to child; the main exception, when a child moves in and uses it as a primary residence, is capped. If the property should stay in the family for children and grandchildren, who will manage it, and how will taxes and repairs be shared? Long ownership also tends to build a large gain in value, which makes the tax basis important; for married couples, holding the home as community property can mean a full step-up in basis on the first death. We look at the title, the taxes and your family’s goals together, so the plan works for the people who will inherit.
Directions to Our Office From Santa Ana
From Downtown Santa Ana and the Civic Center, our office is a short drive south by the 55 Freeway or MacArthur Boulevard.
Other Areas We Serve
Start the Conversation
Reach our Newport Beach office at (949) 945-0059, or contact us online and tell us a little about what you need.