Law Offices of Robert P. Bergman
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Resources · White Papers

Read first. Decide better.

The 2026 Consumer Guide to Wills, Living Trusts and Estate Planning, plus a small library of topical briefs. 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, plus a small library of focused topical briefs on Prop 19, the 2026 Medi-Cal asset-limit reinstatement, Heggstad petitions, and trust administration. The guides are written by Bob, written for California law, and built to help families walk into a first attorney meeting with the right questions.

The Flagship Guide

The 2026 Consumer Guide, free to download.

One book-length PDF covers everything most California families need to understand before they sit down with an attorney. Eight chapters, refreshed for the law changes taking effect this year.

2026 Edition · Refreshed for the new law

A Consumer Guide to Wills, Living Trusts and Estate Planning.

Bob 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. It moves through the same conversation Bob has at the Plan Design Meeting, in the same order, in plain English.

  • 78 pages · PDF
  • 8 chapters
  • California-specific
Request the PDFSee what is inside

Send a request through the contact form and the PDF is emailed back the same business day. No upsell inside, no list rental, no follow-on spam.

Inside The Guide

Eight chapters, in this order.

Each chapter answers one question every California family eventually has to face. Read straight through or jump to the chapter that matches your situation.

  1. What estate planning actually does

    The two problems a plan solves: assets at death, and decisions during incapacity. Plus what California intestacy does in their absence.

  2. Will, trust, or both

    How a will alone routes a California estate through probate and why most families with a home use a fully funded living trust instead.

  3. The four-document plan

    Revocable living trust, pour-over will, durable power of attorney, and advance health care directive. What each one does and how they fit.

  4. Funding the trust

    The step everyone misses. How to retitle real property, brokerage accounts, and beneficiary designations so the trust actually works.

  5. Prop 19 and California property tax

    The parent-child exclusion, the $1 million cap, the primary residence rule, and the strategies that preserve as much basis as the law allows.

  6. Special needs and the 2026 Medi-Cal change

    Third-party and first-party trusts, ABLE accounts, and what the 2026 Medi-Cal asset-limit reinstatement means for families with a disabled beneficiary.

  7. California probate, in plain English

    When probate is required, the statutory fee schedule on a $1 million estate, the 9 to 18 month timeline, and the alternatives that avoid it.

  8. Choosing and working with an attorney

    What the State Bar specialist certification means, what fixed fees include, and what to ask before signing on with anyone.

Who It Is For

Five readers the guide is built for.

The guide is California-general and not topic-specific, but five situations recur and each one has a chapter that speaks directly to it.

Anyone who owns a California home

The home value alone pushes a California estate past the small-estate threshold. Chapter 7 covers what probate would cost on it; Chapter 5 covers Prop 19.

Parents of minor children

Without guardian nominations, a court chooses who raises your children. Chapter 3 walks through where the nomination lives and how to think about who to name.

A special needs beneficiary

A direct distribution can disqualify the beneficiary from Medi-Cal and SSI. Chapter 6 covers the trust structure, the 2026 reinstatement, and ABLE accounts.

Silicon Valley homeowners

The widest spread between assessed and market value in California. Chapter 5 covers the $1 million cap and the lifetime gift, QPRT, and trust language alternatives.

Blended families

Providing for a current spouse and children from a prior relationship takes deliberate trust language. Chapter 3 covers the standard tools and the trade-offs.

Anyone shopping for an attorney

Chapter 8 covers what the State Bar specialist certification means, what fixed fees include, and the questions to ask before signing on.

Topical Briefs

Four shorter papers on the topics families ask about most.

Each brief is a focused PDF of 8 to 14 pages, designed to be read in one sitting. Request whichever ones match your situation; they go out by email the same business day.

  • Property Tax

    The Prop 19 Briefing

    A focused 10-page walkthrough of the parent-child exclusion, the inflation-indexed cap, and the five planning strategies Bob considers.

    10 pages · PDF

    Request the brief
  • Medi-Cal

    The 2026 Medi-Cal Reinstatement Brief

    What the reinstated Medi-Cal asset limit means for California families, the timing, and the steps to move assets into a third-party special needs trust before the deadline.

    12 pages · PDF

    Request the brief
  • Trust Petitions

    The Heggstad Petition Explainer

    When an asset belongs to a trust on paper but was never formally retitled. The Section 850 evidentiary record, the timeline, and what the court is looking for.

    8 pages · PDF

    Request the brief
  • Trust Admin

    A Successor Trustee Handbook

    The duties of a California successor trustee from the 60-day notice through final distribution. Built for the family member handling administration for the first time.

    14 pages · PDF

    Request the brief

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 30-minute Preliminary Planning Session with Bob is the next step.

White Papers FAQ

Common questions about the guide.

Plain-language answers on how to request the PDF, what is new in 2026, 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 Preliminary Planning Session.

Ask Bob directly

  • Yes. There is no fee for the PDF, no paywall, and no upsell inside the document. Bob publishes the guide as a public-education resource. Send a request through the contact form and the PDF is emailed back the same business day.

  • An email address is the only thing needed so the PDF can be delivered. Bob does not sell or share contact information with anyone. The guide is sent once and that is the end of it unless you reply to ask a question.

  • Yes. Every chapter is written for California residents and California law. Topics include the parent-child exclusion under Proposition 19, the California Probate Code statutory fee schedule, the 2026 Medi-Cal asset-limit reinstatement, Heggstad petitions under Probate Code Section 850, and the four-document plan that fits most California families.

  • The 2026 edition adds a chapter on the Medi-Cal asset-limit reinstatement that takes effect during 2026, updates the Prop 19 inflation-adjusted exclusion figure, refreshes the statutory probate fee table, and folds in the recent California trust modification case law on Probate Code Sections 15403 and 15409.

  • 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 30-minute Preliminary Planning Session with Bob is the next step.

  • Yes. In addition to the Consumer Guide, Bob publishes short topical briefs on Proposition 19 planning, the 2026 Medi-Cal asset-limit reinstatement, Heggstad petitions, and trust administration. Each brief is a focused PDF of about 8 to 12 pages, designed to be read in one sitting. The briefs are listed below.

  • Please do. The guide is meant to be shared with parents, siblings, adult children, and anyone helping a family member sort through planning. Bob would rather more California families have the basic information than guard a PDF.

Next Step

Read the guide. Then come decide.

The guide is meant to make the first attorney meeting more useful, not to replace it. When you are ready, schedule a free 30-minute Preliminary Planning Session with Bob to talk through what your family actually needs.

Bob is one of less than 1% of California attorneys certified as a specialist by the State Bar.