Practice Areas | Estate Planning, Probate & Trusts

Grandmother and granddaughter laughing on a backyard patio in the Brea hills while parents set the table under a lemon tree

Protecting your family, your assets and your legacy.

Every plan starts with your family’s story: who depends on you, what you have built, and what you want to pass on. I listen first, then build the plan around your life, whether you live in California or Ohio.

Photos on this page are illustrations and do not show actual clients.

Estate Planning for Everyday Families

Couple reviewing estate planning documents at their kitchen table while their young daughter colors nearby

Protect your family and plan ahead with personalized living trusts, wills, and essential estate planning documents.

An estate plan decides who receives what you’ve built, who makes decisions if you can’t, and who looks after the people you love. Done well, it helps your family avoid probate court and arguments.

Revocable living trusts. Keep your estate private and out of probate, and let a trusted person step in without a court’s permission.
Wills and powers of attorney. Name guardians for your children, and choose who makes financial and health-care decisions if you can’t.
Business succession planning. If you own a business, decide now who runs it, who owns it and how it passes on, so your family inherits a working business and not a dispute.
Protecting your beneficiaries’ inheritances. Trust terms that protect what you leave from a child’s divorce, creditors, or simple inexperience with money, released on a schedule you choose.
Special needs trusts. Provide for a loved one with a disability without risking the benefits they rely on.
Long-term care planning. Protect your home and savings while planning for Medi-Cal in California or Medicaid in Ohio.
Blended families. Clear provisions so the children of a first marriage and a new spouse are both cared for, as you intend.
Trust funding. A trust only works if your home and accounts are actually in it. I make sure they are.

Adult daughter helping her elderly father down the front steps of his stucco home beside a rose bush and orange tree — Planning for care before a crisis.

Spanish-style stucco home with a red tile roof and an orange tree in north Orange County, California — California: a trust only works if your home is actually in it.

Red-brick Ohio farmhouse with orange autumn maples, a split-rail fence and a harvested field — Ohio: protecting the family home and land for the next generation.

Ready to start your plan? Your first and second consultations are free, by video or phone. Call the office in your state.

Call California · (909) 375-3377

Call Ohio · (330) 960-6084

Uncontested Probate

Brother and sister sitting on the living room floor sorting a box of old family photos and papers from their late parents — Settling a parent’s estate, one box at a time.

Clear, practical guidance through the probate process so you can settle a loved one’s estate with confidence.

Probate is the court process that settles an estate when assets weren’t held in a trust. It can be slow and public. I handle the filings and deadlines so the family can grieve without carrying the paperwork.

Full probate administration, from the first petition to final distribution.
Small-estate alternatives, when the estate qualifies for a simpler process.
Spousal property petitions (California), to pass property to a surviving spouse without full probate.
Heggstad petitions (California), when a property was meant to be in a trust but never got there.

Woman at her kitchen table in the evening reviewing a bank statement beside a laptop and accordion file

Facing probate? Call California (909) 375-3377 or Ohio (330) 960-6084.

Trust Administration

Helping successor trustees understand their responsibilities, manage trust assets, and carry out a loved one’s wishes.

Being named trustee is an honor and a job. The law requires notices, an inventory, careful records and fair treatment of every beneficiary. I guide trustees from the first week to the final distribution, and I help beneficiaries understand what they’re owed.

Guidance for successor trustees: notices, inventory, valuation, taxes and distribution.
Accountings and records that keep the trustee protected and the beneficiaries informed.
Transferring real estate and accounts out of the trust.
Keeping the peace: clear communication that heads off family disputes before they start.

Older couple at their dining table reviewing an estate planning binder together, a lemon tree in the window behind them

Three adult siblings sitting together on the front steps of a brick house in Akron, Ohio in autumn, a folder of papers on the porch rail — Keeping every beneficiary informed from the start.

Named trustee? Call California (909) 375-3377 or Ohio (330) 960-6084.

Ruben J. Martinez, estate planning attorney

Meet Ruben Martinez

I’m Ruben J. Martinez, an estate planning attorney licensed in California and Ohio. I help families plan ahead, settle estates and carry out trusts in both states.

Read my story on the About page →

What families say

“Ruben made the process of putting my father’s house in a trust and other estate planning so easy.”
Courtney Vigars

“Ruben prepared my estate plan. Working with an attorney can’t get any better than this, and I’ve worked with many.”
An Tran

“Ruben helped us set up and complete a trust for our mother. He was informative, thorough and professional.”
Dolores Kane

Talk with Ruben. Your first and second consultations are free, by video or phone. Call the office in your state.