Gray & Barba LLP

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Gray & Barba, LLP is a law firm specializing in Estate Planning, Trust Administration, Estate Administration, Probate, and Conservatorship.

09/30/2026

For years, many California parents assumed their children could inherit the family home and keep the low property tax base. Proposition 19 changed that.

Under current rules, the parent-child exclusion from reassessment is far narrower. The child generally has to move into the home as their primary residence within one year of the transfer, and even then, the exclusion only covers value up to about $1 million over the parent's original assessed value, adjusted each year. A child who misses that window, keeps the home as a rental, or lives elsewhere, may face a significantly higher property tax bill.

How your home is held and how you plan for it can make a meaningful difference. A conversation before a transfer, not after, gives your family more options.

At Gray & Barba LLP, we help California families plan for the home they want to keep in the family.

We offer consultations in English and in Spanish.

Call our office today at (805) 777-8408 (ext. 3) to schedule a complimentary consultation.

This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Please consult an attorney for guidance specific to your situation.

09/23/2026

A divorce changes your life. It does not automatically change your estate plan, and that gap is where real problems start.

Beneficiary designations naming a former spouse, powers of attorney still authorizing them to make decisions on your behalf, a trust that never anticipated your life looking this different, all of these can quietly survive a divorce unless you go back and update them yourself. Some documents change automatically under California law after a divorce is finalized. Many do not, and the ones that do not are exactly the ones people forget.

At Gray & Barba LLP, we help clients rebuild a plan that actually reflects the life they are living now, not the one they had before.

We offer consultations in English and in Spanish.

Call our office today at (805) 777-8408 (ext. 3) to schedule a complimentary consultation.

This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Please consult an attorney for guidance specific to your situation.

09/16/2026

A trust protects your assets. An advance health care directive protects your voice when you can't use it yourself.

This document names someone you trust to make medical decisions on your behalf if illness or injury leaves you unable to make them yourself, and lets you express your own wishes about serious end-of-life care in advance. Without one, your family may face agonizing decisions with no clear guidance from you, at exactly the moment they need it most.

At Gray & Barba LLP, we make sure your plan covers your voice, not just your assets.

We offer consultations in English and in Spanish.

Call our office today at (805) 777-8408 (ext. 3) to schedule a complimentary consultation.

This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Please consult an attorney for guidance specific to your situation.

09/09/2026

No estate plan does not mean no plan. It means the state of California decides for you.

Without a revocable living trust or a will, California's intestate succession laws determine who inherits your assets, and those laws do not always match what you would have chosen. A blended family, an unmarried partner, or specific wishes for a family member with special needs can all be left unaddressed by the default rules.

At Gray & Barba LLP, we make sure your actual wishes are the ones that control, not a generic default.

We offer consultations in English and in Spanish.

Call our office today at (805) 777-8408 (ext. 3) to schedule a complimentary consultation.

This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Please consult an attorney for guidance specific to your situation.

09/02/2026

Signing a revocable living trust feels like finishing the job. It is actually only half of it.

A trust only protects the property that is actually retitled into its name. Your home, bank accounts, and other assets need to be formally transferred, called funding, or they are still legally yours as an individual when you pass away, which means probate anyway, the exact outcome the trust was supposed to prevent.

At Gray & Barba LLP, we walk every client through the full funding process, not just the signing appointment.

We offer consultations in English and in Spanish.

Call our office today at (805) 777-8408 (ext. 3) to schedule a complimentary consultation.

This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Please consult an attorney for guidance specific to your situation.

08/26/2026

A revocable living trust protects your family after you pass away. A power of attorney protects you while you are still here.

A durable power of attorney names someone you trust to manage your finances if illness or injury leaves you unable to do it yourself. Without one, your family may need to petition the court for a conservatorship just to pay your bills or manage your accounts, even with a trust otherwise in place.

At Gray & Barba LLP, we make sure your plan covers both what happens after you are gone and what happens if you simply need help managing things for a while.

We offer consultations in English and in Spanish.

Call our office today at (805) 777-8408 (ext. 3) to schedule a complimentary consultation.

This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Please consult an attorney for guidance specific to your situation.

08/19/2026

Being named someone's trustee can feel like an honor, right up until you realize how much responsibility comes with it.

A trustee is not just holding a title. A trustee has a legal duty to manage trust assets carefully, keep clear records, act only in the best interest of the beneficiaries, and follow the instructions in the trust exactly, even when a family member disagrees with those instructions. Mismanaging trust assets, even unintentionally, can create personal liability for the trustee. This is not meant to scare anyone away from the role. It is meant to make sure whoever accepts it understands what they are truly agreeing to before a crisis makes that understanding urgent.

At Gray & Barba LLP, we walk trustees through exactly what the role requires, from day one responsibilities through final distribution, so no one is left guessing.

We offer consultations in English and in Spanish.

Call our office today at (805) 777-8408 (ext. 3) to schedule a complimentary consultation.

This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Please consult an attorney for guidance specific to your situation.

08/12/2026

Most California families do not realize how expensive probate is until they are in the middle of it.

In California, the fees for the attorney and the personal representative are set by statute and calculated as a percentage of the gross value of the estate — not the equity. On a home worth $800,000 with a $400,000 mortgage, the statutory fees are calculated on the full $800,000. That comes to approximately $38,000 in fees before any other costs are counted.

The process also takes time. Even a straightforward California probate typically takes twelve to eighteen months. During that time, your family has limited access to the estate.

A living trust avoids probate entirely. The trust cost is a fraction of what probate costs, and distribution happens without court supervision.

Call our office today at (805) 777-8408 (ext. 3) for a complimentary consultation. We offer consultations in English and in Spanish.

This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Please consult an attorney for guidance specific to your situation.

08/06/2026

Getting married. Having a child. Losing a spouse. Buying a home. Going through a divorce. These are the life events that should send you straight to your estate planning attorney.

An estate plan is a snapshot of your life at the moment you created it. When your life changes, your plan needs to catch up. A will written before you had children may not name a guardian for them. A trust created before your divorce may still name your ex-spouse as a beneficiary. A beneficiary designation on a retirement account you set up years ago may go to someone who is no longer in your life.

Outdated estate planning documents do not just create inconvenience. They can create real legal problems for the people you love at the worst possible time.

At Gray & Barba LLP, we recommend reviewing your plan after any major life change. Even if nothing needs to be updated, the peace of mind that comes from knowing everything is current is worth the conversation.

Call our office today at (805) 777-8408 (ext. 3) for a complimentary consultation. We offer consultations in English and in Spanish.

07/31/2026

Being named as someone's trustee is a tremendous honor. It means they trust you to carry out an important responsibility on their behalf.

But serving as a trustee is more than an honor—it is a legal responsibility.

A trustee is responsible for managing trust assets, following the instructions in the trust document, keeping accurate records, communicating with beneficiaries, making distributions when appropriate, and always acting in the beneficiaries' best interests.

Many people are surprised to learn that trustees can be held personally liable if they fail to fulfill these legal duties. Even well-intentioned mistakes can have significant consequences.

That is why choosing the right trustee is such an important part of every estate plan. We also take the time to help our clients understand what the role involves before asking someone to accept this responsibility.

If you have questions about creating a trust, selecting a trustee, or understanding a trustee's legal duties, we're here to help—in English or Spanish.

Call us at (805) 777-8408 or visit graybarbalaw.com to schedule a complimentary consultation.

Address

1333 E. Thousand Oaks Boulevard , Ste. 212
Thousand Oaks, CA
91362

Website

https://graybarbalaw.com/

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Contact The Practice

Send a message to Gray & Barba LLP:

David Lehr Law
770 County Square Drive, Suite 215, Ventura

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