The mid-century homes north of Ventura Boulevard — the streets that give Encino much of its character — were built for families who have, in many cases, lived there ever since. Those homes have appreciated dramatically. The estate plans that families put in place a decade or two ago were written under different property tax rules, a different Medi-Cal landscape, and a different set of assumptions about what planning needed to accomplish. The gap between that plan and where things stand today is worth understanding.
Encino is one of the more established communities in Richard Seff's draw radius — and one where the estate planning picture tends to be more complex than it first appears. Longtime owners north of Ventura often have significant equity, sometimes a rental property or two, and in many cases an existing trust they put together years ago and haven't revisited. They assume the plan is fine. Often, it isn't — not because it was drafted poorly, but because the law changed.
Proposition 19 took effect on October 17, 2021 and changed the rules for how property passes to the next generation. A trust written in 2012 was designed around the rules that existed in 2012. For an Encino homeowner with a Prop 13 base from the 1970s or 1980s and a current home value north of $1 million, those changes matter — and the plan may not reflect them.
Richard's office is in Woodland Hills, about fifteen minutes from most of Encino via the 101 or Ventura Boulevard. Most Encino clients come to us. Where circumstances require it, we make arrangements.
Typical purchase decade for a longtime Encino homeowner
From Encino to Richard's Woodland Hills office via the 101
Combined probate fees on a $1M estate without a properly funded trust
Many Encino homeowners purchased their homes in the 1970s or early 1980s — in some cases for less than $100,000. Current market values in established Encino neighborhoods frequently exceed $1.2 million. That appreciation gap is precisely what Proposition 19 now exposes at death.
Under the current rules, the parent-child exclusion for a primary residence requires the inheriting child to move into the home within one year and establish it as their primary residence. Even when that condition is met, the assessed value can only increase by up to $1,000,000 above the prior Prop 13 base before reassessment applies. For a home with $1.5 million or more in appreciation, some portion will still be reassessed regardless.
For Encino owners with rental property, there is no parent-child exclusion at all. Those properties are reassessed at full current market value when they transfer to a child. The planning structures that address this — coordinated LLCs and trusts using a different set of California change-in-ownership provisions — need to be in place before any transfer occurs.
Skilled nursing care in Los Angeles County currently runs between $10,000 and $14,000 per month. Medicare does not cover long-term custodial care. Most Encino families face the same arithmetic that West Valley families everywhere face: a parent who needs care, savings that will eventually run out, and a question about what Medi-Cal can do and when.
The answer depends almost entirely on timing. California's Medi-Cal lookback period is 30 months from the date of application. Families who begin planning before a crisis — while a parent is still managing day to day — have the full range of options available. Families who come in after a diagnosis or during a care transition do the best they can with the time they have left.
One planning mistake that comes up regularly with Encino homeowners: transferring the family home to children to help qualify a parent for Medi-Cal. The home is an exempt asset for Medi-Cal eligibility — it does not count against the eligibility limit, and transferring it does nothing to improve eligibility. What the transfer does do is trigger a Prop 19 reassessment that children will carry for as long as they own the property. The home should stay in the trust. Medi-Cal planning addresses other assets.
Encino families with existing trusts often assume they are protected from probate. The critical question is not whether they have a trust — it is whether the trust is funded. A trust that was signed but never used to retitle the deed on the home, the brokerage accounts, or other major assets provides no probate protection. Those assets are still legally owned by the individual, and they will go through probate at death.
California probate is triggered at $184,500 in gross assets — including real property at full market value before any mortgage deduction. In Encino, where homes regularly exceed that threshold by several multiples, probate is a near-certainty without a properly funded trust. Combined statutory fees on a $1 million estate run to approximately $46,000, and the process typically takes twelve to twenty-four months.
What made that outcome possible: a Pour-Over Will directing that any probate assets be transferred to the successor trustee, and a Schedule A listing intended trust assets. Both are required for a Heggstad Petition to succeed — the California remedy that can bring an unfunded asset into a trust after death without a full probate proceeding.
I had a client sign his trust documents on May 2nd. He died the next day. The reason his family is not in probate today is that the documents were drafted correctly — and we were able to use them when it mattered most.
— Richard M. Seff
Our Encino clients typically share this profile, though every family is different:
My firm does not operate on a traditional billable-hour model. Estate planning is a relationship, not a transaction.
A first conversation, with no obligation. We talk through your situation — what you own, how it's titled, what you've already done, what concerns you most. You leave with a clearer picture of where you stand.
A plan designed for your specific situation. Not a template. An Encino family with rental properties north of Ventura needs different planning than a family with a single primary residence. The plan reflects the actual facts.
Full implementation before we consider the engagement complete. Documents drafted, deeds recorded, accounts retitled, beneficiary designations coordinated. The plan is not finished when you sign the documents — it is finished when it will actually work.
An ongoing relationship. I still work with families I first met thirty years ago. Laws change, family circumstances change, real estate portfolios change. The plan needs to keep up.
Likely valid in its basic structure, but almost certainly in need of review. Two things have changed significantly since 2008. First, Proposition 19 took effect in October 2021 and changed the property tax rules for parent-child transfers — rules your 2008 trust was not designed around. Second, many trusts from that era used an A/B structure designed for a lower federal estate tax threshold that no longer applies to most California families. That structure can create complications the surviving spouse doesn’t expect. A review will tell you specifically what your plan needs.
Rental and investment property is treated differently from a primary residence under Proposition 19. The parent-child exclusion does not apply — rental property is reassessed at full current market value when it transfers to a child. For a property purchased in the 1970s with a Prop 13 base well below today’s market value, the property tax increase upon transfer is permanent and significant. There are planning structures that can address this, but they need to be implemented before any transfer occurs.
Come in as soon as possible. Capacity is the threshold issue for estate planning — a person needs to understand what they are signing for a plan to be valid. Early-stage Alzheimer’s often still permits meaningful planning, but the window can close faster than families expect. Even in a more advanced situation, there are planning tools available — they are more limited, but they exist. The one consistent truth is that earlier is always better than later.
A CPA’s expertise is income taxes and current-year filings. Proposition 19 planning involves a different body of law — California property tax under Prop 13 and Prop 19, trust drafting, LLC formation and operation, and the change-in-ownership rules that govern when a property tax reassessment is triggered. There is meaningful overlap with tax planning, and a good CPA and a good estate planning attorney work well together. But the planning itself — the LLC formation, the trust coordination, the asset retitling — is legal work.
Our office is in Woodland Hills, about fifteen minutes from most of Encino via the 101 or Ventura Boulevard. Most Encino clients come to us. Where circumstances require it — particularly for clients with mobility limitations or an aging parent who cannot travel easily — we make arrangements. The first conversation can happen by phone or video before any in-person meeting.
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 — for the property you have, in the city you live in, under the law as it is today. No obligation. Just clarity.
