The Estate Planning & Elder Law Firm is based in Woodland Hills and serves families throughout the West Valley, the broader San Fernando Valley, and communities at the Ventura County edge. Richard Seff has practiced here for thirty-five years. The families he works with are his neighbors — longtime homeowners, rental property owners, and families navigating the question of long-term care for an aging parent. Every city page on this site was built for the specific homeowner profile in that community. This page is for everyone else we serve.
Each of the following communities has a dedicated page built specifically for that city’s homeowner profile — the local property values, the Prop 19 exposure, and the long-term care questions most common in that area.
Richard serves clients throughout the broader San Fernando Valley and the communities at the western edge of Los Angeles County and into Ventura County. If your city isn't listed above, it doesn't mean we can't help — it means the volume of clients from that area didn't justify a dedicated page. The planning is the same.
Communities we regularly serve beyond the eight dedicated pages:
West Valley communities well within the practice draw radius.
Ventura County communities where clients frequently come to us via referral or the 101 corridor.
at the outer edge of the draw radius; clients from these communities are welcome and do come in.
east Valley communities where referrals occasionally bring new clients.
The practice areas below are what Richard focuses on exclusively. Every local page on this site links into these hubs for the deeper detail on each practice area. If you’ve come to this page from a search and want to understand what we do before picking up the phone, start here.
Comprehensive estate plans designed to protect assets, simplify inheritance, and provide clear instructions for the future.
Comprehensive estate plans designed to protect assets, simplify inheritance, and provide clear instructions for the future.
Guidance on how California’s Proposition 19 affects inherited property and property tax reassessment — protecting your family’s real estate legacy.
Legal planning strategies to help families navigate long-term care costs and Medi-Cal eligibility requirements without sacrificing financial security.
Trust administration and probate are the processes that determine what happens to a family’s assets after a death.
Most estate planning attorneys serve clients across a broad geographic area with general expertise. Richard Seff’s practice is deliberately concentrated in the West Valley for a reason: the planning problems here are specific. Homes purchased in the 1970s and 1980s with six-figure appreciation. Rental portfolios accumulated over decades. Prop 19 rules that changed the property tax picture for every family planning to pass real estate to the next generation. Long-term care costs that run $10,000 to $14,000 per month in Los Angeles County.
A practice built around these specific facts is a different thing from a general estate planning firm that serves West Valley clients as one part of a broader practice. Richard has spent thirty-five years watching the same situations repeat for the same communities — and that depth shows in the planning.
Whatever brought you here — a property tax bill, a parent’s diagnosis, a trust you haven’t looked at since 2015, or a rental property you’ve been meaning to plan around — the first conversation is the right place to start. It costs nothing, and it will tell you specifically where you stand.
A first conversation is straightforward. We review what you own, how it’s titled, and whether your existing plan still does what you think it does — under the law as it is today. No obligation. Just clarity.
