The questions people ask before they reach out.

We give you a written fee estimate before any work starts. Most trust and estate cases are billed hourly, and the AI platform the firm runs on keeps the organizing and drafting hours down. Tell us about your situation and we will tell you what it would take.

Whatever you have: the trust or will in any version, amendments, the notice letter and its envelope, letters from the trustee or their lawyer, and a short timeline of who died when and what changed. Do not worry about organizing it. Photos of documents are fine, and you can upload them with the request.

Usually we can tell you after one conversation and a look at the documents. The three things that matter most: what changed, who benefited, and when you found out.

Usually each side pays its own. The exceptions matter: a trustee who breached their duties can be ordered to pay fees personally, financial elder abuse claims carry a statutory fee award (Welfare and Institutions Code section 15657.5), and some trusts and contracts have fee clauses. We cover this in the first conversation.

Usually 120 days from the date the trustee serves the notice required by Probate Code section 16061.7, or 60 days from delivery of the trust terms, whichever is later (Probate Code section 16061.8). Deadlines depend on your facts; confirm yours with a lawyer.

You can object before the will is admitted to probate. Once it is admitted, a petition to revoke probate must be filed within 120 days (Probate Code section 8270).

Then the 120-day trust contest window may not have started, but do not rely on that. Notices get served at old addresses, and other claims run on their own clocks. Bring us whatever mail you have.

Four years from when the abuse was discovered or reasonably should have been (Welfare and Institutions Code section 15657.7). If the wrongdoer has died, claims against their estate can be limited to one year from death.

Months to a couple of years depending on the court's calendar and whether the other side wants to settle. Many resolve at mediation.

Often, yes. Most trust and estate disputes settle. We prepare every case as if it will be tried, which is usually what gets it settled.

If the case goes to trial, probably yes, and you may give a deposition before that. We prepare you for both. Most cases settle before either becomes necessary.

Yes. We meet by video by default, and in person by appointment when the case calls for it. No office visits, no parking, no waiting rooms. Court appearances happen in the courtroom.

Often, if you are defending the trust or your administration of it in good faith. A trustee may hire a lawyer (Probate Code section 16247) and is repaid from the trust for expenses properly incurred in administering it (Probate Code section 15684). The trust does not pay for your side of a fight over who gets what, and fees already paid can be charged back to you if the court finds a breach. We tell you where that line runs before the first invoice goes to the trust.

Sixty days is the number to work from. A beneficiary who asks in writing can go to court to compel an accounting once 60 days pass without one, if none was given in the six months before the request (Probate Code section 17200(b)(7)). A written request for information gets the same 60-day treatment (Probate Code sections 16061 and 17200(b)(7)), and beneficiaries entitled to distributions are owed an accounting at least once a year (Probate Code section 16062). Some trusts change these rules, so send us the trust and the request before you answer.

Santa Clara County Superior Court in San Jose for Santa Clara County families, and the San Mateo, Alameda, and San Francisco Superior Courts for the rest of the Bay Area. We meet by video anywhere in California.

Yes, throughout the Bay Area: San Mateo, Alameda, and San Francisco counties, and elsewhere in California by video and travel when the case calls for it.

Arthur is the co-founder and CEO of Legion, an AI litigation platform. We use it to go through bank records and medical files and to prepare drafts in days instead of months. Lawyers make every judgment call, check every citation, and sign everything that goes to court.

A small firm focused on trust and estate litigation, run by a litigator who also builds litigation software. We are fully remote. The same AI platform Legion builds for litigators does the reading and the first drafts, and a lawyer makes every judgment call. You talk to the people doing the work.

Request a consult online. Tell us what happened, in writing or by voice, and upload what you have. We read it, run a conflict check, and tell you which deadlines matter before anything else. We strive to respond within one business day.

Legion is an AI litigation platform that Arthur co-founded and runs as CEO. Rothrock Legal is a separate law firm that uses Legion in its own cases. The software does not give legal advice; the lawyers do, and they are responsible for every word that is filed.