Sherman Oaks sits at the eastern edge of the San Fernando Valley corridor — close enough to the westside to draw professionals who settled here decades ago, far enough into the Valley to carry the same Prop 13 appreciation story that defines Richard Seff’s practice. The families who bought in Sherman Oaks in the 1970s and 1980s are now facing the same questions every longtime West Valley homeowner faces: whether their estate plan still reflects the law as it exists today, and whether what they’ve built will transfer cleanly to the next generation.
Sherman Oaks homeowners tend to come in through two paths: referral from a Woodland Hills or Encino client who has known Richard for years, or a direct search after a life event — a parent's diagnosis, a spouse's death, a property tax bill that prompted a closer look at the estate plan.
The demographic profile is familiar: longtime owners in their 60s and 70s, homes purchased before 2000, significant appreciation above the Prop 13 base, and an estate plan that hasn't been updated since before Proposition 19 changed the rules. The office is in Woodland Hills — about twenty minutes from Sherman Oaks via the 101 or the 405. Most Sherman Oaks clients come to us.
Typical purchase year for a longtime Sherman Oaks homeowner
From Sherman Oaks to Richard's Woodland Hills office
Combined probate fees on a $1M estate without a properly funded trust
A Sherman Oaks home purchased in the 1980s may carry a Prop 13 base well under $200,000 against a current market value of $900,000 or more. Under Proposition 19, the parent-child exclusion for a primary residence now requires the inheriting child to move in within one year and establish primary residence — and even then, appreciation above $1,000,000 over the prior Prop 13 base is subject to reassessment. For rental property, there is no exclusion at all.
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 runs between $10,000 and $14,000 per month. California’s Medi-Cal lookback period is 30 months from the date of application. The families who protect the most are the ones who plan before a crisis — while a parent is still managing day to day — not after one begins.
Many Sherman Oaks families have a trust. The question is whether it was ever funded — whether the deed to the house was recorded into the trust’s name, whether financial accounts were retitled. A trust that was signed but never used to hold assets provides no probate protection. California’s probate threshold is $184,500 in gross assets. In Sherman Oaks, almost every homeowner exceeds it.
Most people come in thinking they need to update their will. What they usually discover is that they have a trust that hasn't been funded. The document is only the beginning.
— Richard M. Seff
Longtime homeowners who purchased before 2000 with significant appreciation above the Prop 13 base.
Pre-retirees and retirees in their 60s and 70s whose existing plan hasn't been reviewed since before October 2021.
Families with rental property who have never had a plan designed around the Prop 19 implications for investment real estate.
Adult children helping aging parents navigate a long-term care transition.
Yes, if you own real property with significant appreciation above the Prop 13 base — or any rental property. Your 2014 trust was written before Proposition 19 took effect in October 2021. The rules for how property passes to children changed fundamentally, and your existing plan may not address those changes.
Rental property has no parent-child exclusion under Proposition 19. It is reassessed at full current market value when it transfers to a child — permanently increasing the annual property tax. There are planning structures that can address this, but they need to be implemented before any transfer occurs.
About twenty minutes from Sherman Oaks via the 101 or the 405 to the 101. Most Sherman Oaks clients come to us at 21300 Victory Boulevard in Woodland Hills. 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.
