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Estate Planning · Sherman Oaks, CA

Estate Planning Attorney in Sherman Oaks, California

Plan for the people, property and decisions that matter most.

An estate plan is about more than what happens after you die. It also sets out who may handle your finances and your healthcare if you ever cannot, and leaves the people you love with clear instructions. I’m Siena Martinez, and I work with individuals and families at every stage of that planning.

Siena M. Martinez, Esq.

Founder & President, Siena Law, P.C.

Serving Greater Los Angeles and Ventura County from Sherman Oaks, with remote estate planning throughout California and signing appointments available throughout Southern California, including San Diego.

Why it matters

Estate planning helps protect the people & decisions that matter most

A thoughtful estate plan can help clarify who may step in if you need support, how important decisions should be handled, and how you want your assets and responsibilities managed over time.

Siena M. Martinez, Esq.

Founder & President, Siena Law, P.C.

During your lifetime

Choose the people who may act for you if you cannot, and put your wishes in writing while you can still explain them.

Planning for the future

Leave instructions for your property and the people who depend on you, and organize what someone will need in order to carry them out.

One coordinated plan

Your estate plan may include more than one document.

The right combination depends on your family, what you own, how it is titled and what you want to accomplish. Each document has a different job, and I draft them to work together.

01 Property & continuity

Living Trusts

A revocable living trust holds and manages assets during your lifetime and says how they pass afterward. Assets properly transferred to the trust can generally pass outside probate.

02 Instructions & wishes

Wills

A will gives written instructions for property, nominates an executor and can document your wishes concerning minor children. Alongside a trust, it catches anything left outside the trust.

03 Financial decisions

Financial Powers of Attorney

Names the person who may handle financial matters on your behalf, under the terms and in the circumstances the document sets out.

04 Healthcare decisions

Advance Health Care Directives

Names who may make healthcare decisions if you cannot make or communicate them yourself, and records the instructions you want followed.

Is this for me?

Estate planning can become especially important when life changes.

You do not need a particular age or level of wealth to begin. These are the moments that most often bring people to my office, and where each usually leads.

Siena M. Martinez, Esq.

Founder & President, Siena Law, P.C.

You own a home

How your home is titled affects who can manage it if you cannot, and how it passes when you die.

You have children

Document who you would want to care for them, and how anything left to them should be managed.

You are married or building a life with a partner

A shared home, a second marriage or a blended family raises questions about what each of you would want, and for whom.

You want someone you trust to handle decisions if you cannot

Decide who should have authority over financial and healthcare matters, and within what limits.

You already have a plan that may need updating

Documents signed years ago may no longer match your family, your property or current California law.

A common question

Do I need a will or a living trust?

It is rarely an either/or choice. Many California plans use both: a living trust to hold and pass the major assets, and a will that works alongside it. The useful question is how each would work in your circumstances.

Instructions after death

A will

Written instructions that take effect after your death
Nominates an executor, and can document your wishes for minor children
Works alongside a trust to catch anything left outside it
Property passing under a will generally goes through probate in California

Management during life and beyond

A living trust

Takes effect during your lifetime, and can hold your home, accounts and other assets
Names a successor trustee to step in if you cannot act, and after your death
Keeps the details private rather than part of a court file
Assets properly transferred to the trust can generally pass outside formal probate

Siena M. Martinez, Esq.

Founder & President, Siena Law, P.C.

Your home

Estate planning for California homeowners

For many families the home is the largest thing they own, and the asset most affected by how a plan is built. How title is held affects who can manage the property if you cannot, and how it passes when you die.

Owning a home is one of the strongest reasons to evaluate whether a living trust is appropriate, rather than an automatic requirement to have one. A home properly transferred to a living trust can generally pass to the people you choose outside probate.

Creating a trust and funding it are two different steps. A signed trust document alone does not put your home in the trust. The deed that transfers it is part of the plan.

Your family

Estate planning for parents

If you have minor children, the hardest questions are not about property. They are about who would step in, and how the people you choose would be supported.

Selecting care for your children

Your estate plan can nominate the people you would want considered to care for minor children if a guardian ever needs to be appointed. The court makes that decision. Your written wishes give it something clear to consider.

Managing what you leave them

A plan can say how assets set aside for children are held, who manages them, and when they are distributed. If a minor child inherits money or property outright, a guardianship of the estate may be necessary because a minor cannot legally manage those assets. This can mean a court-appointed guardian, continued court oversight, periodic accountings, possible attorney fees, and added expenses that reduce the funds available to the child. The inheritance generally becomes available to the child outright when they reach adulthood.

A trust can help avoid this. The child’s inheritance stays in trust, a trustee manages it outside the guardianship-of-the-estate process, and you decide how and when distributions occur, including specific ages or milestones. For parents of minor children, this is an important reason to consider trust planning.

Choosing the right people

The person who raises your children and the person who manages money for them do not have to be the same.

Siena M. Martinez, Esq.

Founder & President, Siena Law, P.C.

During your lifetime

Planning for decisions during your lifetime.

This is the first part of the plan from the top of the page. If an illness or an accident leaves you unable to manage your own affairs, two documents say who may act for you, and within what limits.

Financial decisions

Financial power of attorney

Names the person who may handle banking, bills, property and other financial matters on your behalf, under the circumstances the document sets out. Without one, your family may need to ask a court for authority before anyone can act.

Healthcare decisions

Advance health care directive

Names who may make medical decisions if you cannot make or communicate them yourself, and records your instructions about the care you would and would not want. Sharing those wishes with the person you choose helps them carry the decision.

Prepared as part of your estate plan.

If you do nothing

What happens if you do not have an estate plan?

Without an operative plan, California law decides who receives property that passes through probate, following a fixed order of relatives rather than your wishes. Your family has fewer written instructions to follow, decisions during a period of incapacity can become more complicated, and probate or another court proceeding may be needed depending on what you own and how it is titled.

Furthermore, if you become incapacitated during your lifetime, your loved ones may have no choice but to ask the court for authority to manage your affairs, likely through a conservatorship proceeding.

None of this is meant to alarm you. It is simply what the defaults look like, and a properly drawn estate plan will replace the defaults with your own choices.

The California Courts self-help guide to wills, estates and probate is a useful general resource.

Siena M. Martinez, Esq.

Founder & President, Siena Law, P.C.

Siena M. Martinez, Esq.

Founder, Siena Law, P.C. · California State Bar No. 351791

Working with Siena

Estate planning informed by experience with trust and estate disputes.

Before founding Siena Law, I spent nearly three years in trust and estate litigation, reading plans after they had failed: a trust that was never funded, a will that left a question open, two documents that contradicted each other.

That experience shapes how I plan now. I write in plain language, think through how each document works with the others, and ask the practical questions that tend to surface years later, while there is still time to answer them. No plan can guarantee that a family will never disagree, but a clear one gives them far less to disagree about.

You work with me directly, from the first conversation to the final signature.

What to expect

What to expect when you work with Siena.

Siena M. Martinez, Esq.

Founder & President, Siena Law, P.C.

Start with a consultation

After an initial inquiry and conflict check, a conversation about your family, your property, any existing documents and what you want to accomplish.

Identify the right structure

I recommend the combination of documents that fits your situation, and explain why.

Prepare and review the plan

I draft the documents, then walk through them with you and make changes until they say what you mean.

Finalize the plan

You sign, and leave with a complete set of documents and instructions for what follows, including transferring assets into a trust where one is part of the plan.

Questions

Estate planning FAQs

Short answers to the questions I hear most. The consultation is where they get longer.

Siena M. Martinez, Esq.

Founder & President, Siena Law, P.C.

Do I need an estate plan if I already have a will?

A will is one part of a plan, and for some people it is the right foundation. It does not say who may act for you during your lifetime, and property passing under it generally goes through probate in California. A review can show whether a living trust, a power of attorney or a health care directive should be added.

Do I need a living trust if I own a home in California?

Not automatically, but owning a home is one of the main reasons to evaluate one. A home properly transferred to a living trust can generally pass to the people you choose outside probate. Whether that is the right fit depends on how the home is titled, what else you own and what you want to accomplish. More about living trusts.

What is the difference between a will and a living trust?

A will takes effect after death, and property passing under it generally goes through probate. A living trust takes effect during your lifetime, can hold assets, and lets a successor trustee manage and distribute them without a court running the process. Many California plans use both.

What happens if I become unable to manage my financial affairs?

If you have a financial power of attorney, the person you named can act for you under its terms. Without one, your family may need to ask a court for authority before anyone can manage your finances on your behalf.

Can an estate plan address healthcare decisions?

Yes. An advance health care directive names who may make medical decisions if you cannot make or communicate them yourself, and records the instructions you want followed. I prepare one as part of a complete plan.

When should I update my estate plan?

Whenever your life changes in a meaningful way: a marriage or the end of one, a birth, a death, a move, buying or selling a home, or a significant change in what you own. A review every few years is sensible even when nothing obvious has changed.

Can Siena review or update an existing estate plan?

Yes. Many clients arrive with documents prepared years ago or by another attorney. I review what you have, explain what it does and does not cover, and recommend changes only where they are needed.

A clear place to begin

Start planning with confidence

You do not need to work out on your own whether you need a will, a living trust, a power of attorney or some combination before reaching out. That is what the consultation is for: a conversation about your family, your property, your goals and your concerns.

Sherman Oaks office · Remote meetings throughout California · 805-552-6896