Services
Your estate plan isn't just paper — it's a living system of alignment. We map your family's pathways so that what matters most reaches the people who matter most. We help clients build plans that are as simple or as comprehensive as their circumstances require, including:
Revocable Living Trusts
The foundation of your estate plan — flexible, private, and designed to evolve with your family. Avoids probate and keeps your family’s affairs out of public record.
Advance Healthcare Directives
Your wishes for medical care, documented clearly and legally. Peace of mind that your healthcare preferences will be honored.
Wills & Guardianship
Who raises your children if you can’t. The most important decision most young parents haven’t made yet. We pair a pour-over will with your trust for complete alignment.
Asset Alignment
Ensuring your accounts, property, and policies actually flow through the plan you’ve built. A plan without proper funding is just paper.
Powers of Attorney
Healthcare and financial decision-making, aligned with your values and wishes. Ensures the right people can act on your behalf if you’re unable to.
Business Succession
For founders and partners — structuring ownership transitions that protect your business, your family, and your partners.
Revocable Living Trusts
Along with a will, power of attorney, and advanced health directive, the revocable living trust forms a comprehensive California estate plan. These documents work together to protect you and your family.
A revocable living trust lets you manage your own assets during your lifetime, exactly as you do now, while putting a plan in place for the future. You name a successor to step in if you're ever unable to manage things yourself, and to distribute assets to your loved ones when you pass. You can also include important details on how you would like your digital footprint to be managed, or instructions related to your beloved pet. Because the trust is revocable, you can update or undo it at any time as your life changes.
A major goal for a revocable living trust is to put plans in place that allow you to avoid the delay, cost, and public record of probate. Probate is the court-driven process that occurs when someone passes away without an estate plan in place. In California, an average estate of $1,000,000 will incur nearly $50,000 in executor and attorney’s fees alone. This does not include filing fees and other costs.
As part of your estate planning package, we will also advise you in asset alignment, so you may rest easy and ensure that your trust is properly funded.
Wills & Guardianship
A will is your written statement of how you want your assets distributed after you pass, and it's where you name a guardian to care for any minor children. Even if other tools like a trust are part of your plan, a will serves as an indispensable backstop, making sure your wishes are followed and nothing is left to guesswork.
Powers of Attorney
A power of attorney lets you choose, in advance, someone you trust to step in and manage your financial affairs — paying bills, handling accounts, making decisions — if you're ever unable to do so yourself. Having this in place means your family can act quickly on your behalf with banks and other financial institutions, without going to court for permission.
Advance Healthcare Directives
Advanced healthcare directives in California are important estate planning tools for anyone who might lose decision-making capacity in the future (read: they’re for everyone). A healthcare directive puts your medical wishes in writing and names someone you trust to make care decisions on your behalf if you can't communicate them yourself. It gives your family clarity and confidence during moments that are already difficult, so they're never left guessing what you would have wanted. You may also express your wishes for your remains or organs in the directive.
Business Succession
If you are a business owner, it is paramount that you plan for how incapacity or death would affect your business. This is where Meridians Estate Planning stands apart. With Vincent Tong’s years of experience in business advising, we have solutions for your business to ensure the least disruption possible in the event of an untimely passing. Allow us to bridge your company’s needs with your estate planning to avoid probate.
Trust Administration
Serving as a trustee, or being a beneficiary of a trust, can raise as many questions as it answers. We provide clear, practical guidance to help administration move forward correctly and without unnecessary conflict, including:
- Guiding trustees through their duties and responsibilities
- Preparing and reviewing required notices and accountings
- Assisting with asset transfer and distribution
- Advising beneficiaries on their rights within the process
- Resolving questions or disputes that arise during administration
Our goal is to make a process that can feel complicated and emotional as smooth and transparent as possible — for everyone involved.
Pre-Marital & Post-Marital Agreements
Marriage brings together not just two lives, but two sets of assets, expectations, and financial futures. A well-drafted agreement gives couples clarity and protection, so financial matters are settled with care rather than left to chance — or conflict — later on.
A pre-marital agreement (sometimes called a prenuptial agreement) is entered into before marriage and sets out how assets, debts, and financial responsibilities will be handled during the marriage and in the event of divorce or death. It's a practical, forward-looking way for couples to protect individual property, family inheritances, or a business, and to enter marriage with shared expectations already in place.
A post-marital agreement (or postnuptial agreement) serves a similar purpose but is entered into after the wedding has already taken place. Couples often turn to one after a significant life change — a new business, an inheritance, a shift in finances, or simply a desire to formalize an understanding they didn't put in writing before marrying. It offers the same clarity as a pre-marital agreement, tailored to the couple's circumstances at the time.
We help couples approach these conversations thoughtfully, with an emphasis on fairness and open communication, so the agreement strengthens the relationship rather than complicating it. We especially recommend that any pre-marital and post-marital agreements be prepared in conjunction with an estate plan, especially in situations involving a second marriage.