Where We Practice in California
Corcoran Smith Law represents heirs and beneficiaries throughout California. Trust and estate disputes are heard in the superior court of the county where the decedent lived or where the trust is administered, so your county sets the venue and the probate department, not the reach of your lawyer.
A straight answer about geography. California attorneys are licensed statewide and appear in any superior court, and most probate motion practice is now handled remotely. Your county decides which court hears the case — it does not decide who can represent you. We are not going to publish a page per county pretending to a local office we do not have.
Where we meet clients
- San FranciscoBay Area matters, SF Superior Court probateSan Francisco
- SacramentoCentral Valley and the capital regionSacramento
- Los AngelesSouthern California, Stanley Mosk probateLos Angeles
Meetings in San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles. Representation everywhere in California.
Which court will hear your case
Venue for a trust dispute generally follows where the trust is administered or where the decedent was domiciled. That governs the probate department, the local rules, and how quickly you get a hearing — which in practice varies more between counties than most people expect.
| County | Where probate is heard |
|---|---|
| Los Angeles | Stanley Mosk Courthouse handles probate; among the busiest probate calendars in the state. |
| San Francisco | Probate is heard at the Civic Center courthouse. |
| Sacramento | Probate is heard at the William R. Ridgeway Family Relations Courthouse. |
| Orange | Probate sits at the Costa Mesa justice centre. |
| San Diego | Probate is heard at the Central Division. |
| Santa Clara | Probate sits at the Downtown Superior Court, San Jose. |
| Alameda | Probate is heard at the Berkeley courthouse. |
| Contra Costa | Probate sits at the Wakefield Taylor Courthouse, Martinez. |
| San Mateo | Probate is heard at the Hall of Justice, Redwood City. |
| Riverside | Probate sits at the Historic Courthouse. |
If your county is not listed
It makes no difference to whether we can act. Tell us where the person lived and where the trust is administered and we will tell you which court that puts you in, and what its calendar currently looks like.
Need help with legal fees?
We litigate select cases on contingency, with no upfront fees.
Costs are separate from the fee, and whether you are responsible for them is set out in the written agreement before you sign anything.
How contingency fees work in California
A contingency fee means the attorney is paid from what is recovered rather than by the hour, so a beneficiary who cannot fund litigation out of pocket can still bring a claim. California regulates these agreements closely. Under Business and Professions Code section 6147, the agreement must be in writing and the attorney must give the client a duplicate copy, signed by both, when the contract is made. It must state the agreed contingency rate; how disbursements and costs incurred in prosecuting or settling the claim will affect that fee; and to what extent the client could be required to pay for related matters. Unless the matter falls under section 6146, the agreement must also state that the fee is not set by law and is negotiable. These are not formalities: failure to comply with any provision of section 6147 makes the agreement voidable at the client’s option, leaving the attorney entitled only to a reasonable fee.
Sources: Business and Professions Code s.6147 - Contingency fee contracts · Verified 2026-08-03.
Not every matter suits a contingency arrangement, and the firm does not take every case on one. Whether yours qualifies depends on the facts, the likely recovery, and the assets actually available to satisfy a judgment. Ask when you call.
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