West Hills sits at the western edge of the San Fernando Valley — quiet streets, family neighborhoods, and a community that was largely built out by the early 1990s. The families who bought here in the 1980s and early 1990s have seen their homes appreciate significantly. Many have trusts they put together years ago, rental properties they acquired along the way, and parents or in-laws now facing the question of long-term care. The planning those families need today looks different from the planning they set up a decade or two ago.
West Hills is one of the younger communities in Richard Seff's practice area — which means its longtime homeowners often bought in the late 1980s or early 1990s rather than the 1970s. That shifts the appreciation profile slightly, but not the planning fundamentals. A West Hills home purchased in 1991 for $280,000 and now worth $900,000 or more carries nearly the same Prop 19 exposure as a home purchased in Encino in 1978 — and the same questions about whether the existing plan addresses it.
Many West Hills families Richard works with come in through referrals from neighbors or from Woodland Hills clients who have known him for years. The office is on Victory Boulevard — ten to fifteen minutes from most of West Hills depending on the route. Most West Hills clients come to us.
The West Hills client profile is distinct in one way: a higher proportion of families still have two living spouses actively engaged in planning, rather than one surviving spouse managing an estate in progress. That makes the timing of planning decisions different — and in many ways, more flexible. The window to act is open. The question is whether they know they need to.
Typical purchase decade for a longtime West Hills homeowner
From West Hills to Richard's Woodland Hills office
California gross probate threshold — most West Hills homes exceed it many times over
For a West Hills homeowner who purchased in the late 1980s or early 1990s, the appreciation gap between the Prop 13 base and today's market value is often $500,000 to $700,000 or more. Under Proposition 19, the parent-child exclusion for the primary residence now requires the inheriting child to move in within one year and establish 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 West Hills families with rental property — and West Hills has a meaningful number of investors who purchased Valley rentals in the 1990s — there is no parent-child exclusion at all. Rental properties transfer to children at full current market value. The planning structures that address this use a different set of California change-in-ownership provisions, and they 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 beyond a limited rehabilitation period. For West Hills families — many of whom are in their 60s with aging parents — the long-term care question arrives in two directions: for the parents they are helping now, and for themselves in the decade ahead.
Medi-Cal covers long-term skilled nursing care once eligibility requirements are met. California's lookback period is 30 months from the date the application is filed. Families who plan before a crisis almost always protect more. Families who contact us after a parent is already in a skilled nursing facility work with what is available — which is real, but more constrained.
A warning that applies directly to West Hills families considering a home transfer: the family home is an exempt asset for Medi-Cal eligibility. Transferring it to children does nothing to help a parent qualify for Medi-Cal. What it does do — every time — is trigger a Prop 19 property tax reassessment that the children will carry for as long as they own the property. This is among the most common and most costly planning mistakes Richard sees. The home should stay in the trust.
West Hills families with trusts often made the right decision years ago when they put the trust together. The question now is whether the trust was ever fully funded — whether the deed to the house was recorded into the trust's name, whether the financial accounts were retitled, whether any rental property was properly transferred. A trust that exists on paper but was never used to hold the assets it was meant to protect provides no probate protection.
California probate is triggered at $184,500 in gross assets, measured at full market value before any mortgage deduction. In West Hills, almost every homeowner exceeds that threshold. Combined statutory fees on a $1 million estate are approximately $46,000. The process takes twelve to twenty-four months and is entirely public.
Every plan created at this firm includes full implementation — documents drafted, deeds recorded, accounts retitled, beneficiary designations coordinated. The plan is not finished when the documents are signed. It is finished when it will actually work.
During my second year of law school, my grandfather passed away. He had a properly drafted trust. His estate still went through probate — because the assets had never been transferred into the trust. The documents existed. The plan had failed. That experience is the reason every plan I create is fully implemented before I consider the engagement complete.
— Richard M. Seff
Our West Hills 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. A West Hills couple planning for two rental properties and an aging parent 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 two things. First, your 2005 trust was written before Proposition 19 took effect in October 2021 — the rules for how real property passes to children changed fundamentally, and your plan may not address those changes. Second, many trusts from 2005 used an A/B structure designed for a lower federal estate tax threshold that no longer applies to most California families. When the first spouse dies, the Decedent’s Trust in an A/B plan becomes irrevocable — the surviving spouse cannot change beneficiaries regardless of what has changed. A review will identify what your specific plan needs.
Start with a review of whatever plan they already have — trust, powers of attorney, healthcare directive. The most urgent question is whether those documents are still in order and whether the trust, if there is one, was properly funded. If any of those pieces are missing or outdated, the time to address them is while your father can still participate in decisions. Capacity matters for estate planning, and the window can narrow faster than families expect.
Yes, directly. The Prop 19 parent-child exclusion for a primary residence requires the inheriting child to move into the home and establish it as their primary residence within one year. If your children are settled in other states and not planning to relocate, the standard exclusion does not apply — the property will be reassessed at current market value upon transfer. There are other planning structures that may help, but they require advance work. This is a common situation for West Hills families, and it is exactly the kind of scenario where reviewing the plan now makes a material difference.
Yes — they serve different purposes. A revocable living trust manages assets that have been retitled in the trust’s name. A durable power of attorney authorizes your named agent to handle financial and legal matters that fall outside the trust — signing contracts, managing bank accounts not yet in the trust, handling tax filings, and similar tasks. Both are part of a complete plan. Without a durable power of attorney, a family may need to petition the court for a conservatorship if a spouse or parent becomes incapacitated — a process that can take months and cost significantly more than the document it replaces.
About ten to fifteen minutes via the 101 or surface streets depending on where in West Hills you are. Most West Hills clients come to us at 21300 Victory Boulevard in Woodland Hills. 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.
