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Estate Planning Attorney in San Rafael, CA | Matthew W. Harris, Esq., LLM

Most people know they should have an estate plan. Very few actually have one. And even fewer have one that still reflects their life.

If you own a home in Marin County, have kids, run a small business, or simply want to decide who gets what when you’re gone, you need a plan. Without one, California’s intestate succession laws make that call for you. That means the state decides. Not you.

Matthew W. Harris, Esq., LLM, is a San Rafael estate planning attorney with a Juris Doctor and a Master of Laws degree. He works with individuals, families, and small business owners across Marin County, including Novato, Mill Valley, Tiburon, Larkspur, San Anselmo, Corte Madera, and Sausalito, to build estate plans that actually hold up.

Here’s what that looks like in practice.

Why Marin County Residents Need Specific Attention Here

San Rafael and the surrounding Marin County communities have some of the highest median home values in the state. When your estate includes real property, the stakes around probate are high. On a $1.5 million property, California’s statutory probate fees alone can run $36,000 or more.

There’s also the reality of California community property law. How your assets are titled, whether as community property, separate property, or joint tenancy, affects what your surviving spouse inherits, how your estate is taxed at the federal level, and whether your heirs get a full step-up in basis on appreciated property.

For business owners in San Rafael and Novato, your estate plan also needs to address what happens to your business. Who takes over? How do co-owners buy out your share? A buy-sell agreement funded by life insurance is often part of the answer, and it’s something most estate planning attorneys don’t bring up unless prompted.

Working With Matthew W. Harris, Esq., LLM

Matthew holds both a Juris Doctor and a Master of Laws (LLM), with graduate-level training focused on tax and estate planning. That’s a level of academic preparation most estate planning attorneys in the Bay Area simply don’t have.

He’s licensed by the State Bar of California, a member of the Marin County Bar Association, and affiliated with both WealthCounsel and the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA). These aren’t just memberships. They mean he’s working from current, state-specific legal frameworks, not outdated templates.

His practice is locally owned and focused on this community. You’re not working with a call center or getting passed between associates. You talk to Matthew.

Most clients say the same thing after their first meeting: “I wish I’d done this sooner.”

What Estate Planning Actually Covers

People often think estate planning is just about writing a will. It’s not. A complete estate plan usually includes several documents that work together. Skip one, and the gaps can cost your family a lot of time, money, and stress.

Here’s what most Marin County residents need:

Last Will and Testament

A will tells the court exactly how you want your assets distributed after you die. It also lets you name a guardian for your minor children, which is one of the most important decisions any parent can make. If you have children from a prior relationship, a will is especially critical. Without one, assets can pass entirely to your current spouse, with no legal obligation to include your kids.

Revocable Living Trust

For most homeowners in San Rafael and throughout Marin County, a revocable living trust is the smarter move. Here’s why: when your assets are titled in a trust, they skip probate entirely.

Probate is California’s court-supervised process for distributing a deceased person’s estate. It’s public record, it can take 12 to 18 months, and the fees are calculated on the gross value of your property, not your equity. On a $1.2 million home, that can mean $30,000 or more in statutory fees, even if you owe $900,000 on it.

A revocable trust avoids all of that. You stay in full control during your lifetime. You name a successor trustee to step in when you can’t. Your beneficiaries get their inheritance without the court involvement, delays, or public exposure.

Durable Power of Attorney

This document gives someone you trust the legal authority to handle your finances if you’re ever unable to. Pay bills, manage accounts, handle real estate transactions. Without it, your family may need to go through a court-ordered conservatorship, which is expensive and time-consuming, just to access the accounts they need to keep things running.

Advance Healthcare Directive and HIPAA Authorization

These two documents go hand in hand. An advance healthcare directive (sometimes called a living will) spells out your medical wishes if you can’t communicate them yourself. The HIPAA authorization tells healthcare providers exactly who is allowed to see your medical information.

Without them, doctors may be legally barred from sharing information with your spouse or adult children, even in an emergency.

Beneficiary Designations

This one surprises a lot of people. Your will doesn’t control who inherits your life insurance, 401(k), or IRA. Those assets transfer by beneficiary designation, no matter what your will says. If you named an ex-spouse as a beneficiary 10 years ago and never updated it, they’ll likely still get the money.

Reviewing and coordinating your beneficiary designations is a core part of building an estate plan that actually works.

Other Services We Offer

Depending on your situation, you may also need one or more of the following:

Special Needs Trust: Protects assets for a child or family member with a disability without disqualifying them from government benefits like Medi-Cal or SSI.

Irrevocable Trust: Removes assets from your taxable estate. Useful for high-net-worth families or those with Medicaid planning concerns.

Charitable Trust: Lets you leave a legacy to a cause you care about while getting potential tax benefits during your lifetime.

Trust Administration: When a loved one passes, the successor trustee has real legal responsibilities. We guide trustees through the process step by step.

Probate Administration: If your loved one died without a trust, or with assets outside the trust, we handle the court process from start to finish.

Elder Law and Medicaid Planning: If you’re planning for long-term care costs, the right legal moves made early can preserve your assets and protect your options.

Business Succession Planning: For San Rafael and Novato business owners who need a structured plan for what happens to their company.

Working With Matthew W. Harris, Esq., LLM

Matthew holds both a Juris Doctor and a Master of Laws (LLM), with graduate-level training focused on tax and estate planning. That’s a level of academic preparation most estate planning attorneys in the Bay Area simply don’t have.

He’s licensed by the State Bar of California, a member of the Marin County Bar Association, and affiliated with both WealthCounsel and the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA). These aren’t just memberships. They mean he’s working from current, state-specific legal frameworks, not outdated templates.

His practice is locally owned and focused on this community. You’re not working with a call center or getting passed between associates. You talk to Matthew.

Most clients say the same thing after their first meeting: “I wish I’d done this sooner.”

Ready to Build Your Estate Plan?

You don’t have to have everything figured out before you call. Most people come in with a list of questions and leave with a clear picture of exactly what they need and why.

Matthew W. Harris, Esq., LLM serves clients throughout San Rafael, Novato, Mill Valley, Tiburon, Corte Madera, Larkspur, San Anselmo, Fairfax, Sausalito, and across Marin County.

Schedule your free consultation today. Getting started is easier than most people expect, and waiting never makes it simpler.

Estate Planning FAQs for San Rafael and Marin County Residents

For most people in Marin County, a trust is the better option. California’s probate process applies to estates over $184,500 (as of the current threshold), and given local property values, most homeowners here will cross that line easily. A revocable living trust lets your estate skip probate entirely, which saves your family time, money, and the frustration of court proceedings. A will alone still goes through probate. That said, the right answer depends on your specific assets and family situation, which is exactly why a consultation matters.

A good rule of thumb: review your plan every three to five years, and any time something big changes. Marriage, divorce, the birth of a child, a new home purchase, retirement, or the death of someone named in your plan, all of these are reasons to take a fresh look. Laws also change. California has updated probate thresholds and trust regulations multiple times in recent years. An estate plan that was solid five years ago may have gaps today.

California’s intestate succession laws take over. The state uses a fixed formula to decide who gets what, based on your family structure. Your unmarried partner gets nothing. Your estranged sibling might get a share. Your kids could receive assets directly at 18, with no structure around how or when. None of this reflects what most people actually want. The only way to control the outcome is to have a written plan.

Yes, with the right type of planning done well in advance. Medi-Cal (California’s Medicaid program) has a five-year look-back period, which means transfers and irrevocable trusts set up within five years of applying can be challenged. The people who protect the most assets are the ones who plan early. If long-term care is a concern for you or an aging parent, bring it up during your consultation. This is an area where waiting genuinely costs you options.

You need a plan that covers both of you together, which typically includes a joint revocable living trust along with individual documents like powers of attorney and healthcare directives. How your property is titled also matters. Community property with right of survivorship, for example, passes to a surviving spouse automatically and may offer a full step-up in tax basis for capital gains purposes. Getting the titling right is as important as the documents themselves.

It changes quite a bit. Without a clear plan, assets can pass entirely to your current spouse, with no legal requirement that your children from a prior relationship receive anything. A well-structured estate plan can carve out specific shares, use a qualified terminable interest property trust to provide for your current spouse while preserving assets for your kids, or set up separate trusts for each set of beneficiaries. Blended families are one of the most common reasons people urgently need an estate plan.

Costs vary depending on what you need. A basic estate plan with a will, power of attorney, and healthcare directive will run less than a full trust-based plan with deed transfers and funding assistance. The real question is what it costs not to have a plan. Probate fees alone on a median-priced Marin County home can run $25,000 to $45,000 or more. Attorney fees for a conservatorship can exceed the cost of a full estate plan many times over. A free consultation with Matthew will give you a clear picture of what you actually need and what it will cost.

LEGAL DISCLAIMER:

The information on this website is for general information purposes only. Nothing on this site should be taken as legal advice for any individual case or situation. This information is not intended to create, and receipt or viewing does not constitute, in any way an attorney-client relationship. Matthew W. Harris, Esq., LL.M is a California lawyer in good standing with the State Bar of California. Matthew W. Harris is admitted to practice only in California. Mr. Harris is not licensed to practice in any other jurisdiction.