By Kevin Luu, Co-Founder and Chief Learning Officer. Reviewed on 2026-09-30.
The questions to ask a lawyer about estate settlement come down to five things: whether the estate needs probate or only a trust administration, how the lawyer is paid, who does which tasks and by when, which tax returns and elections are due, and what you as executor or trustee can be personally responsible for. Ask them in the first meeting, before you sign an engagement letter, and ask for the answers in writing.
This guide is for the high-earning parent in California or Washington who has just been named executor or successor trustee for a parent’s estate, while holding down a demanding job and raising young children. You do not need to become a probate expert. You need to hire the right lawyer, understand the few decisions only you can make, and keep a clean record of them.
Why estate settlement lands hard on working parents
Most people are named executor of a parent’s will or successor trustee of a parent’s living trust years before it matters. When it does, the job arrives with deadlines, a house to secure, siblings to keep informed, and accounts that will not talk to you until you have the right court papers or trust documents. For a family with two demanding W-2 careers and children under 12, the scarce resource is time, not money. A good lawyer saves time. A poorly scoped engagement costs both.
In California, estates held outside a trust often go through probate court, and the lawyer’s fee for ordinary probate work is set by statute as a percentage of the estate’s gross value. In Washington, probate is usually simpler, but the state has its own estate tax with an exclusion far below the federal one. Both facts change which questions matter most.
The 10 questions to ask, and what a good answer sounds like
1. Does this estate need probate, or can it be settled through the trust and beneficiary designations?
A good lawyer will ask for the will, any trust, recent statements, the deed to each property and the beneficiary forms on retirement accounts and life insurance before answering. Assets with a named beneficiary (401(k), IRA, life insurance, transfer-on-death accounts) usually pass outside probate. Assets titled in a living trust pass under the trust. What is left in your parent’s own name decides whether a probate case is needed. California has simplified procedures for small estates under a statutory threshold that is adjusted over time, so ask whether any of them apply.
2. How will you bill, and what does the statutory fee come to for this estate?
In a California probate, the attorney’s fee for ordinary services is set by Probate Code section 10810: 4% of the first $100,000 of estate value, 3% of the next $100,000, 2% of the next $800,000, 1% of the next $9 million, and 0.5% of the next $15 million. The executor is entitled to the same schedule under section 10800. The value is based on the inventory of the estate, not reduced by mortgages or other debts. Extraordinary work (selling real estate, litigation, tax matters) can be billed on top, with court approval. Trust administrations are not on this schedule and are usually billed hourly or as a flat fee, so ask for an estimate range.
3. Who will actually do the work, and how do you communicate?
Ask who handles day-to-day tasks (a partner, an associate or a paralegal), how fast they reply, and whether they will send a written task list with owners and dates. A delegator wants one point of contact and a monthly status note, not a stream of calls.
4. What is the realistic timeline, and what are the fixed deadlines?
Ask for the full sequence: opening the case or notifying trust beneficiaries, the creditor claim period, inventory and appraisal, tax filings, and final distribution. Two federal dates to anchor on: an estate tax return (Form 706), if one is needed, is due nine months after the date of death, with an automatic six-month extension of time to file (Form 4768) available; that extension does not extend the time to pay. In Washington, the state estate tax return and payment are also due nine months after death.
5. Will any estate tax be due, federal or state?
For deaths in 2026, the federal basic exclusion is $15,000,000 per person, made permanent by the 2025 tax law and indexed from 2027, so most estates owe no federal estate tax. California has no estate tax. Washington does: for deaths from July 1 to December 31, 2026, the exclusion is $3,000,000 (it was $3,076,000 for deaths from January 1 to June 30, 2026), per the Washington DOR tables. A Seattle-area parent with a house, a brokerage account and a paid-off retirement nest egg can cross that line. Ask the lawyer to confirm which table applies to the exact date of death.
6. If a spouse survives, should we file Form 706 anyway to elect portability?
When the first parent dies, the unused part of the federal exclusion can pass to the surviving spouse, but only if an estate tax return elects it. Even with no tax due, filing can protect the survivor’s estate later. The IRS allows a simplified late election under Rev. Proc. 2022-32 if a complete return is filed on or before the fifth anniversary of the date of death, for estates below the filing threshold. Ask whether the lawyer or a CPA will prepare it, and what it costs.
7. How will we document the new cost basis of each asset?
Inherited property generally takes a basis equal to its fair market value on the date of death. In community property states like California and Washington, when one spouse dies the total value of community property, including the survivor’s half, generally becomes the new basis. This step-up often matters more to the family than any estate tax. Ask who will order date-of-death appraisals for real estate and statements for securities, and where they will be kept.
8. Does the estate or trust need its own income tax return?
A domestic estate must file Form 1041 for any year it has gross income of $600 or more. Dividends, interest or rent collected after death count. The executor and trustee can also elect under section 645 (Form 8855) to treat a qualified revocable trust as part of the estate for tax purposes. The election is irrevocable. Ask whether it helps here and who files.
9. What am I personally responsible for as executor or trustee?
Ask what could make you personally liable, for example distributing assets before debts and taxes are paid, mixing estate money with your own, or missing a deadline. Ask the lawyer to confirm in writing that they represent you in your role as executor or trustee, not your siblings individually. That clarity avoids awkward conflicts later.
10. When can we distribute, and how do we handle a minor grandchild’s share?
If your parent left money to your children, a minor cannot hold it outright. Ask whether the will or trust names a custodian or a trust for them. Under California law, a transfer authorized by a will or trust can delay a custodial account’s turnover to no later than age 25 if the document says so (Probate Code section 3920.5). In Washington, a custodianship created by will or trust ends at 21 by default under RCW 11.114.200. See what happens to a UTMA when a child turns 21.
Worked example: settling a parent’s $2.4 million estate in California
Assumptions (illustrative): Maya is a biotech director in the Bay Area, household income $1.1 million, two children aged 6 and 9. Her widowed mother dies in 2026 in San Mateo County with a house appraised at $1.8 million (bought decades ago for $300,000) and a $600,000 brokerage account, both in her own name. No trust. Maya is named executor.
| Item | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Estate value for fee purposes | $1,800,000 + $600,000 | $2,400,000 |
| Statutory attorney fee | 4% x $100,000 + 3% x $100,000 + 2% x $800,000 + 1% x $1,400,000 | $37,000 |
| Statutory executor fee (Maya may waive) | Same schedule | $37,000 |
| Federal estate tax | Estate below the $15,000,000 exclusion (2026) | $0 |
| California estate tax | None in California | $0 |
| Taxable gain if the house sells for $1,850,000 | $1,850,000 minus stepped-up basis of $1,800,000, before selling costs | $50,000 |
Two points stand out. First, the $37,000 attorney fee is based on the full $2.4 million even if the house carried a mortgage. If the executor sells the house during probate for $1,850,000, the $50,000 gain over the appraisal is added to the fee base under section 10810(b), so the attorney fee becomes $37,500 (and the executor fee the same). Had her mother held the house and brokerage account in a funded living trust, there would be no court case and no statutory schedule. Second, without the step-up, the gain on the house would have been about $1.55 million. Documenting the date-of-death appraisal is worth more than almost any other task on the list.
Executor fees are taxable income to the executor. Many family executors who are also heirs waive them, especially at a high marginal rate, because the same money can reach them as an untaxed inheritance. Ask the lawyer and your CPA to run both paths before you decide.
What changes if the estate is in Washington
Change one fact: Maya’s mother lived in Bellevue, and her house and investments total $4.2 million. Washington probate is generally less court-intensive, but the estate is above the 2026 Washington exclusion ($3,000,000 or $3,076,000, depending on the date of death), so a state estate tax return is due nine months after death and tax is owed on the amount above the exclusion. That makes question 5 the first thing to raise, not the last. Securities in the estate still get the federal step-up in basis.
Common mistakes executors make
- Signing an engagement letter before understanding whether probate is needed at all.
- Distributing to siblings before the creditor period ends and the final tax returns are filed.
- Selling the house or securities before date-of-death values are documented.
- Assuming no estate tax means no Form 706, and losing a portability election for the surviving parent.
- Letting estate money pass through a personal account.
What to document for your own kids
Settling a parent’s estate is the clearest preview of what your children will face. Two actions come out of it. First, fix your own plan: a funded living trust, current beneficiary forms, named guardians and a trust for your children’s share. Our estate planning page and the guide to naming a trust as beneficiary of a brokerage account cover the mechanics. Second, write down why you made the calls you made as executor: why the house was sold or kept, how you treated siblings fairly, what you learned about the lawyer. Kept in a FamilyKnowledge® Library, that record becomes a lesson your children can read one day. As Kevin Luu puts it: “Conversations fade. Documentation compounds.”
Frequently asked questions
Is an estate planning attorney the same as a probate attorney?
Not always. An estate planner drafts wills and trusts while the person is alive. A probate or trust administration attorney settles the estate after death. Many firms do both, but ask how many estate settlements the lawyer handled in the last year and in which county, because local court practice affects timing and cost.
Can my financial advisor or CPA help settle the estate?
They can handle parts of it. A CPA can prepare Form 1041 and Form 706, and an advisor can retitle and value accounts. Legal steps (court filings, deeds, notices) belong to the lawyer. See whether a financial advisor can be your executor and questions to ask about an inheritance.
Can I negotiate California’s statutory probate fee?
The statute sets the fee the court allows for ordinary services, and a lawyer may agree to charge less. Ask directly. Also ask which tasks they would treat as extraordinary, because those are billed on top and must be approved by the court.
Next step
Before the first meeting, gather the will and any trust, the last statements for every account, property deeds and beneficiary forms, then bring these 10 questions. If you want help coordinating the tax side, our tax management page explains how an Age Five Family Office™ works alongside the family’s lawyer and CPA. This is general education, and the right move depends on your family’s full picture.
Kevin has advised high-income W-2 tech and biotech families since 2015, and leads the education-first Age Five Family Office from Brea, California.
Connect on LinkedIn → · About KevinThis is part of how we approach Estate Planning for high-income W-2 families at Bright Advisers.
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