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

The RegistryCounty Record · California

Estate Planning Lawyers in Santa Cruz County, California

Searching for a estate planning attorney in Santa Cruz County? Counsel for wills, trusts, and probate: the paperwork that outlives you, done right. This page indexes the county's estate planning coverage from the State Bar of California's official roll, with identity-verification markers where available.

A Monterey Bay county pairing the university town of Santa Cruz with the Pajaro Valley's agriculture; the main courthouse sits in Santa Cruz, with a Watsonville branch serving the south county. The court of record is the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Cruz · counsel who appear there regularly read the local calendar better than any brochure.

The law also keeps time: 120 days to contest a trust after the trustee's statutory notice under 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). The plaque below carries the citation; the roster that follows carries the rest.

This page is the Santa Cruz County chapter of the registry's statewide record · Estate Planning Attorneys 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 Cruz.

County seat: Santa Cruz

Courthouse at the county seat: Santa Cruz Courthouse, 701 Ocean Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060

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: www.santacruz.courts.ca.gov

Estate Planning · Santa Cruz County roster

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

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

The roster concentrates in Santa Cruz (49), Aptos (18), Soquel (9) and Capitola (7).

7 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 1, 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 1969 to 2025.

The employers most represented here are Penrose Chun & Gorman LLP (4), Christerson & Christerson LLP (3) and Brereton, Mohamed, & Korte LLP (2).

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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 Cruz 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

Related counsel in Santa Cruz County

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

Estate Planning in nearby counties

Estate Planning in San Mateo County329 attorneysEstate Planning in Santa Clara County587 attorneysEstate Planning in San Benito County10 attorneysEstate Planning in Monterey County114 attorneysEstate Planning Attorneys 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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