Heggstad Petition Attorney Serving All California Counties.

A Heggstad petition is a court request asking a judge to confirm that an asset belongs to a trust, even though the asset was never formally transferred into the trust during the owner’s lifetime. California Probate Code Section 850 permits these petitions. The procedure exists because real-world trust funding is rarely complete; deeds, account titles, and business interests get missed.

Trust petitions are not local in the way that a divorce or a personal injury case is. The petition is filed where the asset is located or where the trustee resides. That means a single attorney with the right specialty can serve families across California, and Bob has built that practice for decades. Other estate planning attorneys send their hardest Section 850 cases to Bob.

The work rewards specialization because the result depends on a careful read of the trust, the schedule of assets, and the surrounding records. The notice provisions, the evidentiary standard, and the form of the proposed order all matter. A defective petition can be denied, and a denied petition often leads to a full probate proceeding.

Bob has filed Heggstad petitions in Santa Clara County (his primary jurisdiction since 1980), San Mateo County, Contra Costa County, and other California counties. The petition follows the asset or the trustee, not the attorney.

For out-of-state heirs of California decedents, Bob coordinates the engagement remotely. Plan Design Meetings happen by Zoom, document signing happens by e-signature or mobile notary, and the petition is filed in the relevant California Superior Court. Many of Bob’s Heggstad clients live outside California.

The first step is a review of the trust, the schedule of assets, the pour-over will, and the asset records. Bob gives you a written assessment of whether a Heggstad petition fits, what the evidentiary case looks like, and a fixed fee estimate.

After you decide to move forward, Bob drafts the petition, files it in the relevant Superior Court, and serves notice on every interested party as required by Probate Code Section 851. The hearing is typically 30 to 60 days after filing. Bob attends the hearing. Once the order is signed, the order is certified and recorded against the property (for real estate) or presented to the financial institution (for accounts).