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North Bay Estate Planning
Estate Planning for North Bay Families in Marin, Sonoma, Napa and Solano Counties
From Sausalito and Mill Valley to Petaluma and Santa Rosa, from Napa and Sonoma to Vallejo, Fairfield and Vacaville, North Bay families have built lives rooted in their land and their communities. The Law Office of Nicole Warmerdam helps individuals, couples and families across Marin, Sonoma, Napa and Solano counties create estate plans that protect their homes, their property and the people they love, and keep their families out of probate court.
The North Bay is home to retirees who have lived here for decades, families who farm and make wine, military families at Travis Air Force Base, and many who have rebuilt after wildfire. Each brings different planning questions, and our plans are built around them.
Why North Bay estates need a thoughtful plan
High home values make probate expensive
Median home values in the North Bay range from about $1.5 million in Marin County to about $882,000 in Napa County, $785,000 in Sonoma County and $572,000 in Solano County (July and August 2026).
In probate, California sets attorney and executor fees by law as a percentage of the estate's gross value.
On a $1.5 million Marin estate, those fees come to about $56,000 combined.
Wherever you live in the North Bay, a funded living trust is the most reliable way to keep your family out of court. ​
Planning for retirement and incapacity
About one in four Marin County residents is 65 or older, and many North Bay homeowners have lived in the same house for decades.
For these families, planning for incapacity matters as much as planning for death.
A durable power of attorney, an advance health care directive and a trust with a clear successor trustee let the people you choose step in to manage your finances, your home and your care without a court conservatorship.
Wildfire and being prepared
The Tubbs Fire in 2017 and the fires that followed taught many North Bay families how quickly homes and papers can be lost.
An up-to-date plan names who can deal with insurance claims, rebuilding decisions and finances if you cannot, and keeps copies of your trust, deeds and health care directives where your family can reach them.
If you have rebuilt or relocated, it is a good time to update your plan and confirm your trust still owns your property.
Military families and veterans
Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield is one of the largest employers in Solano County, and many veterans have made the North Bay their home.
Military life raises its own planning needs: documents that are ready before a deployment or move, guardianship choices for children, and coordination with military life insurance and retirement survivor benefits, which pass by their own beneficiary designations and elections rather than through your trust.
We make sure every piece points the same direction.
Estate planning services for the North Bay
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Revocable living trusts that keep your home and accounts out of probate
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Wills and pour-over wills, including guardianship choices for minor children
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Powers of Attorney and Advance Health Care Directives
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Proposition 19 and property tax planning for parent-child transfers
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Trust funding, including deeds for Marin, Sonoma, Napa and Solano property
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Including vineyards, ranches, family land and businesses in your plan
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Planning for military families, including coordination with military benefits
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Trust administration and probate for families after a loss
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Regular plan reviews after a move, marriage, birth, sale or liquidity event
Marin County
• Belvedere
• Corte Madera
• Fairfax
• Larkspur
• Mill Valley
• Novato
• Ross
• San Anselmo
• San Rafael
• Sausalito
• Tiburon
Napa County
• American Canyon
• Calistoga
• Napa
• St. Helena
• Yountville
Sonoma County
• Cloverdale
• Cotati
• Healdsburg
• Petaluma
• Rohnert Park
• Santa Rosa
• Sebastopol
• Sonoma
• Windsor
Solano County
• Benicia
• Dixon
• Fairfield
• Rio Vista
• Suisun City
• Vacaville
• Vallejo
We also serve unincorporated communities including Kentfield, Greenbrae, Stinson Beach, Bolinas, Point Reyes Station, Inverness, Bodega Bay, Guerneville, Glen Ellen, Kenwood, The Sea Ranch and Angwin.