Indexed from official State Bar of California records · Identity verification · Updated regularly

The RegistryCounty Record · California

Estate Planning Attorneys in Santa Clara County, California

Counsel for wills, trusts, and probate: the paperwork that outlives you, done right. In Santa Clara County, that work runs through the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara. This directory presents estate planning records from official State Bar of California data in neutral order.

The heart of Silicon Valley; its superior court's complex civil division hears many of the technology industry's trade secret, employment, and corporate disputes. The court of record is the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara · counsel who appear there regularly read the local calendar better than any brochure.

Deadlines shape these cases before merits do · 120 days to contest a trust after the trustee's statutory notice (Cal. Prob. Code § 16061.8). A trustee's notification under Prob. Code § 16061.7 starts a 120-day contest window. Creditor claims in probate are generally barred one year after death (Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 366.2).

This page is the Santa Clara County chapter of the registry's statewide record · Estate Planning Lawyers in California collects all 58 counties.

The clock & the court

Statute of limitations

120 days to contest a trust after the trustee's statutory notice.

Cal. Prob. Code § 16061.8

A trustee's notification under Prob. Code § 16061.7 starts a 120-day contest window. Creditor claims in probate are generally barred one year after death (Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 366.2).

Court of record

Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara.

County seat: San Jose

Main courthouse: Downtown Superior Court (DTS), 191 North First Street, San Jose, CA 95113

Help with forms without a lawyer: the court's self-help center (source: The court's official website, read 2026-09-27).

Official court information, locations, and filing rules: santaclara.courts.ca.gov

Estate Planning · Santa Clara County roster

612 attorneys on the official State Bar of California roll list estate planning among their practice areas with an address of record in Santa Clara County.

587 of them hold an active licence; the remainder are recorded as inactive and are not currently eligible to practise.

The roster concentrates in San Jose (284), Palo Alto (63), Los Gatos (58) and Los Altos (39).

76 hold a State Bar Certified Legal Specialist designation, a certification issued by the State Bar's Board of Legal Specialization, and not a rating or a ranking.

For 20, the registry records a language other than English, almost always from a firm website published in that language; that describes the website, not an attorney's own ability.

Admission years on this roster run from 1963 to 2026.

The employers most represented here are Berliner Cohen LLP (12), Ferrari Ottoboni Caputo & Wunderling LLP (6) and Thoits Law (6).

The full Santa Clara County roster · 586 attorneys with an active license and a estate planning practice area: is listed by surname in the 3 sections below.

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In the last 30 days attorneys have read 11 filed matters on the registry.

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Legal information, not legal advice

Estate Planning matters in Santa Clara County

The matters this field covers, as Californians search for them. Each attorney's own profile states which of these they take.

  • wills and living trusts
  • probate administration
  • trust administration
  • will and trust contests
  • powers of attorney and health care directives
  • conservatorships
  • estate tax planning
  • special needs trusts
  • small estate procedures
  • trustee and executor disputes

From the answer files

How much do probate attorneys charge in California?Cal. Prob. Code § 10810When can a California estate skip probate?Cal. Prob. Code § 13100How long do I have to contest a trust in California?Cal. Prob. Code § 16061.8

Every estate planning attorney in Santa Clara County, by surname

Abbott – Gorini197 attorneysGorokhovsky – Nguyen197 attorneysNielsen – Zolla192 attorneys

Estate Planning by city in Santa Clara County

Estate Planning in San JoseSanta Clara County

Related counsel in Santa Clara County

Elder Law Attorneys in Santa Clara CountyCal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 15657.7Tax Attorneys in Santa Clara County26 U.S.C. § 6501Real Estate Attorneys in Santa Clara CountyCal. Code Civ. Proc. § 338(b)All practice areas in Santa Clara CountyCounty record

Estate Planning in nearby counties

Estate Planning in San Mateo County329 attorneysEstate Planning in Alameda County468 attorneysEstate Planning in Stanislaus County87 attorneysEstate Planning in Merced County26 attorneysEstate Planning in San Benito County10 attorneysEstate Planning in Santa Cruz County93 attorneysEstate Planning Lawyers in CaliforniaStatewide record

Source: Cal. Prob. Code § 16061.8 · State Bar of California licensee records · Checked: · Maintained by the California Attorney Registry from official State Bar of California records. Legal information, not legal advice.

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