Educational content only. Not legal, financial, tax, or medical advice. Plan Your Passing is not a law firm and no attorney-client relationship is created here. Estate, probate, tax, and inheritance laws differ by country, state, and county. You are responsible for confirming what applies to you. Always consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction before acting on anything you read or generate on this site.
Estate planning in San Jose, CA
Tech equity, RSU vesting schedules, and $2M+ homes make Silicon Valley estate planning unusually complex.
Why this matters in San Jose
The local angle
San Jose families face the most complex estate-planning landscape in the US: high real-estate values, large equity-comp packages (RSUs, ISOs, NQSOs), 409A-deferred comp, and the Prop 19 trap on inherited homes. The federal estate tax exemption matters for many Silicon Valley families because their on-paper net worth puts them near or above the $13.6M threshold.
Local nuance
Santa Clara County probate is the most expensive in California by absolute dollar amount because the median estate value is so high — statutory fees on a $2M estate are about $46K, which is why nearly every Silicon Valley family with a home should consider a revocable trust.
Top concerns for San Jose families
- Revocable trust for tech-worker families
- Prop 19 reassessment when inheriting
- RSU/ISO vesting at death
- Federal estate tax planning above $13.6M
California state law
At a glance
San Jose estate work is governed by California state law. Here's what every family should know.
Statutory fees: 4% of first $100K, 3% next $100K, 2% next $800K, 1% over $1M
Small-estate affidavit (Prob. Code §13100)
No inheritance tax
Spousal rights
Community property state — spouse owns 50% of community assets automatically
Common pitfalls
- CA probate is notoriously slow and expensive — statutory fees apply
- CA Prop 19 (2021) changed property tax transfer rules dramatically
- Heggstad petition can be used for property left out of trust
Free AI tools for San Jose families
Practice. Generate. Review.
Founding Member
Get the San Jose family playbook.
7-day welcome sequence covers the 3 documents, the parent conversation, sibling conflict, the inherited house decision tree, and the digital legacy plan. Free.
Free resource
Start with the checklist
Download the free Family Estate Readiness Checklist — 47 things to do, say, find, and decide.
No spam. One email with the checklist, then occasional updates.
Also serving
Other California cities
Los Angeles, CA
California Probate Court is statutory-fee — and inherited Prop-13-protected homes are the family-fight epicenter.
San Diego, CA
California rules apply — but San Diego's military families bring federal estate planning complexity.
San Francisco, CA
$1.5M+ median home prices + statutory probate fees + Prop 19 = revocable trusts are almost universal here.