Resources · Education
The 2026 Consumer Guide to Wills, Living Trusts and Estate Planning. Written for California residents, refreshed for the law changes that take effect this year, free to download.
The Law Offices of Robert P. Bergman publishes the 2026 Consumer Guide to Wills, Living Trusts and Estate Planning, a free PDF for California residents. It is written by Robert P. Bergman for California law, and built to help families walk into a first attorney meeting with the right questions.
The Flagship Guide
One PDF covers what most California families need to understand before they sit down with an attorney.
Robert P. Bergman wrote the guide for the parent, the spouse, or the adult child who has decided it is time to put a plan in place but does not know where to start.
The download is immediate and free, with no upsell inside, no list rental, and no follow-on spam. Prefer to watch instead? Register for an estate planning webinar.
A guide is a starting point. It is not an attorney.
California estate planning has too many family-specific moving parts (sub-trust selection, beneficiary coordination, Prop 19 timing, special needs preservation, the 2026 Medi-Cal change) to handle from a PDF alone. Use the guide to walk into your first meeting with the right questions. The free 15-minute Consultation with Robert P. Bergman is the next step.
Education FAQ
Plain-language answers on how to download the PDF and where the guide stops and the attorney conversation starts.
Don’t see your question?
Email or call the office, or bring it to your free Consultation.
Ask Robert P. Bergman directlyYes. There is no fee for the PDF, no paywall, and no upsell inside the document. Robert P. Bergman publishes the guide as a public-education resource, and it downloads directly from this page.
No. The guide downloads directly from this page, with no form to fill out and no email required. Robert P. Bergman does not sell or share contact information with anyone.
Yes. Every part of the guide is written for California residents and California law, not a generic national overview.
No. The guide is built to help you walk into your first attorney meeting with the right questions and a working vocabulary, not to replace the attorney. California estate planning has too many family-specific moving parts (sub-trust selection, beneficiary coordination, Prop 19 timing, special needs preservation) to handle from a guide alone. The free 15-minute Consultation with Robert P. Bergman is the next step.
Please do. The guide is meant to be shared with parents, siblings, adult children, and anyone helping a family member sort through planning. Robert P. Bergman would rather more California families have the basic information than guard a PDF.
Next Step
The guide is meant to make the first attorney meeting more useful, not to replace it. When you are ready, schedule a free 15-minute Consultation with Robert P. Bergman to talk through what your family actually needs.
Robert P. Bergman is one of less than 1% of California attorneys certified as a specialist by the State Bar.
