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Trusts, Wills and Estate Planning Law Firm

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Morgan Law Group is an Orange County Estate Planning Law Firm Dedicated to You!

We congratulate you for making it here and taking the first step toward planning for everyone and everything you love. We invite you to explore this site to learn more about who we are, what we do, and how we can protect you and your family through thoughtful legal planning.

We look forward to learning your story, hearing what matters to you, and helping you discover what is actually needed to keep your loved ones out of court and out of conflict when something happens to you (or them).

To find out more about how you can get started, attend one of our upcoming events or schedule a no-charge 15-minute phone call and speak with us personally.

Many of our happiest clients started just where you are right now. But after they attended one of our educational talks on estate planning they felt more at ease, educated and informed about this important planning than ever before. And they love the peace of mind that comes with knowing everything is set up the right way for themselves, their future, and their loved ones.

Our Legal Services

Trust Or Will Planning

Planning for the future is important to ensure your family’s well-being. Let our team help you through your trust and will plan to give you peace of mind.

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Planning For Your Children

If you want to put a plan in place to protect your children in case you pass away or become incapacitated, let us help you get your plan in order to ensure their protection.

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Disability & Incapacity Planning

Life can change at a moment’s notice. Having the right incapacity plan in place can help you get the medical treatment you want and deserve in case of an emergency.

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Trust Settlement

If you need help settling a trust, let our dedicated estate planning professionals help guide you through the process to make sure you get the results you need.

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Probate

Probate is a necessary but potentially complicated process following a person’s death. Let us help you to ensure that your probate process goes as smoothly as possible.

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Special Needs Trust Planning

Giving your loved one all the care & support they can get can go a long way. We can help you further optimize the care your loved one receives through special needs trust planning.

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Why Choose Morgan Law Group as Your Estate Planning Attorneys?

At Morgan Law Group, our estate planning process is about you. We listen to you. We capture what is important to you. Then our Orange County attorneys for estate planning design a personalized, fixed-fee estate plan that offers real security, keeps up with your eventful life and ensures you and your family are protected—if something were to happen to you.

We offer three levels of planning to suit every stage of your life: the Family Plan, the Trust Plan, and the Wealth Plan. Our plans are structured to maximize effectiveness while retaining affordability. We always make sure you know exactly what our services will cost by using fixed fees that are agreed to in advance.

We provide our clients a lifetime, ongoing relationship. Your life changes. Your family changes. Your assets change. With our 3-Year Service Package and a lifetime commitment to you, we make sure that your estate plan keeps up with your changes in life and changes in the law. We designed our firm for open and ongoing communications between our estate planning lawyers and clients. Your estate plan is always up to date and working.

Our 4-Step Estate Planning Process

Morgan Law Group’s 4 Step Estate Planning Process provides you with a comprehensive family estate plan in just six weeks. It is designed to ensure your family and assets are completely protected, you feel confident about your choices, and you have us as a trusted family attorney going forward.
Attend a Planning Session
  • Identify Your Goals
  • Select Your Plan
  • Design a Plan to Reach Your Goals
Creating Your Plan
  • Complete Your Asset Inventory
  • Confirm Names & Contact Information
  • Review Your Decisions
Review & Sign Your Plan
  • Review Your Funding Toolkit
  • Receive Your Detailed Planning Binder
  • Complete Your Client Experience Form
After You Sign Your Plan
  • “Fund” Your Trust
  • Check-In or Attend Funding Workshop
  • Ongoing Client Care & Plan Monitoring

Expert Guidance Through the Trust Administration Process

Our trust attorneys provide more than legal guidance through every step of the trust administration process. In addition, we offer peace of mind. Engaging a trust lawyer to navigate trust administration minimizes your risks and guides you through new and complex duties.

Most importantly, a trust lawyer has the knowledge and experience to make sure you properly carry out your legal and financial duties. With our team of trust attorneys by your side, you can be confident that your trust is being properly and efficiently administered.

We simplify the process by helping you with trustee duties like notifying beneficiaries, preparing regular accounting and taxes, and communicating with beneficiaries. Our estate planning lawyers also help minimize chances of conflict and can keep you out of court.

Words From Our Clients!

We Help You Understand Your Probate Options

While the probate process can be costly, lengthy, and public, our probate attorneys are here to ensure that if you find yourself in probate, you do not have to go it alone. Our estate planning attorneys are also ready to assist in comprehensive estate planning, so you can potentially avoid probate entirely.

A loved one who passes without an estate plan will have their assets go into probate. Our probate attorneys are experienced in the probate process and can help you navigate every step.

A probate lawyer can help you avoid probate simply by creating an estate plan with a living trust. This allows you to avoid the protracted and expensive probate process, all while maintaining the confidentiality of your assets.

A living trust can keep you out of a court system, where everything filed is public record. In addition, you can also avoid a lengthy court process and the time, expenses, and hassle of administrative tasks like contacting creditors, performing an accounting of the assets, and paying debts and taxes.

Frequently Asked Questions

An estate plan comprehensively covers contingencies beyond the important questions of who receives what assets of an estate on your passing. Estate planning is a complete contingency plan or set of legal instructions that also cover incapacity and disability, and guardianship planning for your children. Estate planning protects you and the people you love by keeping them out of court and conflict. In sum, an estate plan is more than just a will. It encompasses multiple legal documents designed to protect you and your family now and represent your final wishes on your passing. Other than a will, an estate plan may also include a living trust, advance directive, financial power of attorney, and short and long term guardianship planning for your children.
Yes. A financial power of attorney lets you designate the person of your choosing, called an attorney-in-fact, to make financial decisions, from the mundane to the crucial, for you if you are incapacitated or otherwise unable to manage your own finances. If something happens to you, your attorney-in-fact will be ready to make sure you fulfill routine financial obligations and make serious decisions about how to finance your medical care. No matter your age, a financial power of attorney is an important part of your estate plan to protect you now.
If your estate planning does not avoid probate, you are choosing to let a probate judge determine who looks after your finances if you are incapacitated, who is a guardian and raises your children if something happens to you, and, on your passing, who oversees getting your assets gathered, inventoried, and distributed. Along with giving a probate judge choice over these important decisions, a probate court’s involvement also usually makes the process more difficult, expensive, and public. Most of all, you do not know how it will turn out. The point of much estate planning is avoiding probate and putting you in charge of these important decisions.
A living trust, also sometimes called a family or revocable trust, is a private legal document designed to help you avoid probate. A trust can immediately distribute your assets upon passing. Critically, it does not need to be filed with a court or reviewed by a court before anything happens. This means the successor trustee, the person you name to administer your trust on your passing or incapacitation, can begin distributing your assets without court involvement. Estate planning with a living trust lets you entirely avoid probate. However, just having a living trust is not enough to avoid probate; an estate planning attorney in Orange County can ensure your living trust is fully funded and properly drafted to avoid probate.
This question is personal for us because we have children. The best guardian is someone who would parent like you would. It is important to think through the potential guardian’s parenting philosophy and style. In considering a potential guardian, ask yourself questions like, “Does the potential guardian share my beliefs and values about my children’s education, discipline, extracurricular activity involvement, and religion or spirituality?” Focusing on whether a potential guardian would make decisions for your children that align with your parenting beliefs and values; making this important decision is one of the best places to start.
Yes. A will generally determines who gets what assets on your passing, but that is not the only concern. Estate planning is not simply a question of what happens to your assets after your death. Estate planning also determines who is in charge of your medical and financial decision-making if you are incapacitated and who takes care of your children if you cannot. A will, while often part of an estate plan, does not cover all your estate planning needs. An experienced trust attorney in Orange County can craft a full estate plan for you that includes important legal documents to protect you, your finances, and your family, if something were to happen to you.
Probate is the court proceedings that oversee the transfer of assets from the deceased to the deceased’s heirs or beneficiaries. Probate can be thought of as the plan for those who failed to create an estate plan. Every state has its own probate court system where a judge gets involved and picks who oversees the process, making sure your assets go to the entitled heirs. A probate court also makes decisions when someone cannot take care of themselves because they are a minor or become incapacitated. A probate judge gets to select the person in charge of your assets, body, or medical decisions. In probate, court records are public, and a judge makes decisions along the way. A probate attorney in Orange County can help you avoid probate. Instead of a court potentially making important decisions about your assets or medical care, an estate planning attorney in Orange County can make sure you have a plan.
If your estate planning does not avoid probate, you are choosing to let a probate judge determine who looks after your finances if you are incapacitated, who is a guardian and raises your children if something happens to you, and, on your passing, who oversees getting your assets gathered, inventoried, and distributed. Along with giving a probate judge choice over these important decisions, a probate court’s involvement also usually makes the process more difficult, expensive, and public. Most of all, you do not know how it will turn out. The point of much estate planning is avoiding probate and putting you in charge of these important decisions.
Many parents believe choosing a guardian is solely a financial decision. However, you ideally will be leaving enough financial support for your children’s upbringing with your estate planning. With your children’s finances secure, you can focus on the important question: “Who will raise my children most closely aligned with my values and how I would raise them?”
Both wills and trusts seek to distribute your assets upon your passing, but differ in important ways. Wills and trusts can also work together in estate planning. A will must be filed with a probate court. Once filed, a will becomes a public record. It must be reviewed and approved by a probate judge before anyone may receive assets from your estate. The probate process is often lengthy, taking many months or even longer. A trust, however, is a completely private document drafted by a trust attorney in Orange County. Only you and your heirs get to see it. A trust does not become part of a public court file. The successor trustee, the person you choose to administer your trust upon your passing or incapacitation, can act immediately to distribute your estate without going to court or making any court filings. With a properly drafted and funded trust, you avoid probate. Many estate plans, however, will need both a trust and a will: a centerpiece trust and a pour-over will to complement it. A pour-over will serves to “pour” assets into your living trust, if needed.

How Long Does the Estate Planning Process Take?

The typical process takes 4-6 weeks from start to finish: from your first appointment to the signing ceremony. At your first appointment, you will meet with your estate planning attorney in Orange County, ask questions, and decide whether to move forward with the peace of mind that your family is protected. We will discuss the exact fixed fee once we determine your needs and goals.

Your estate planning attorney in Orange County will then prepare all the legal documents that comprise your estate plan. About a month later, you will return for your signing ceremony to sign the prepared legal documents, and your estate plan will be fully in place.

While your estate plan may be complete, the signing ceremony just starts the lifetime relationship we maintain with our clients. We stay in touch, host special client-only webinars, and perform no-charge, three-year review meetings with you, so your plan always stays up-to-date.

Resources & Insights

Why “Just a Will” Is Never Enough

Morgan Law Group | May 22, 2023

Create a Stronger Blended Family Through Estate Planning

Morgan Law Group | May 09, 2023

Leaving Your Pet in Your Will Won’t Protect Them – Do This Instead

Morgan Law Group | Apr 24, 2023
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How Much Does an Estate Planning Attorney Cost in Orange County?

Unlike many estate planning attorneys in Orange County who use unpredictable hourly billing, at Morgan Law Group, all our estate planning fees are fixed fees and they are agreed upon in advance. You will know in advance exactly what you will pay to protect your family’s future.

At our initial meeting, we will discuss your estate planning needs and help figure out what is right for you. We have three levels of planning. You choose the level of planning and fee that works best for you and your family, and with our flat fees, there will never be any surprise bills.

At Morgan Law Group, our experienced estate planning attorneys are prepared to provide each and every client with the personalized legal guidance they need for this process. We thoroughly prepare ourselves before jumping into any case, which helps us better understand all of our clients’ needs before providing them with valuable advice related to their specific concerns. Whether your primary focus is establishing a comprehensive estate plan or handling specific issues that might arise, we are here to help.

Morgan Law Group is located about 3 miles away from Bark Park, about 11 minutes away from Bonita Canyon Sports Park, and about 10 minutes away from William R. Mason Regional Park. John Wayne Airport (SNA) is only 5 minutes away from our law firm. For help with all of your estate planning needs, reach out to your Newport Beach law firm today!

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