This article will give you an overview on how to file probate in El Dorado County without an attorney. Despite common misconceptions, you do not need to hire an attorney to probate your loved one’s estate. With this in mind, probating an estate involves a relatively straightforward process. Given these points, A People’s Choice has helped thousands of people complete the California probate process without attorney representation. Contact us today for more information about probating an estate in El Dorado County. Read on to learn more.

Probate is a court supervised process to administer the assets and debts of a deceased person’s estate. This includes paying any outstanding debts and taxes before distributing any remaining assets to beneficiaries and heirs. Most probate matters are resolved within a year of filing.

What our Clients Say...
“A People’s Choice is an incredible organization and extremely well-run business. My probate was taking place in California, but I live in Washington state. Probate is extremely expensive, but A People’s Choice is able to lower this expense by a huge amount and provide outstanding service. Probate is very stressful – it has a legal language all its own. A People’s Choice provides all the information you need to understand Probate and lower your stress. They are truly worth much more than their reasonable fees. I am a legal “dummy”. I was treated with respect and given answers to questions about the process. Their staff is incredibly knowledgeable and helpful. They get back to you quickly and are very efficient. I would recommend A People’s Choice to anyone that is dealing with Probate. I am so thankful that I found this excellent organization!!”
Kathy H.
“Thanks to A People’s Choice, I was able to get through a probate matter very smoothly. I had not one issue with the Courts. They guided me through the whole probate until the very end. I live up north, but that didn’t matter, A People’s Choice did an excellent job keeping me informed with everything that I needed to do. I saved THOUSANDS of dollars by going with A People’s Choice. You can’t go wrong, no matter what your needs are. I saved a lot of money by not having to pay out a percentage to an attorney. Many thanks to the staff at A People’s Choice for the great help they give to everyone in their times of need like I was! Thank You.”
R. Leonard
“Can’t say enough about the level of service and professionalism I received working with A People’s Choice. Emails were always responded to quickly and thoughtfully. They really care about the process and helping you get the best result with no up-selling. Of course, they can’t provide legal advice, but I was referred to an attorney when I needed some questions answered who was very reasonable and easy to get a hold of as well. The process played out according to plan, and I ended up saving a lot of money by going with A People’s Choice over an attorney.”
M. Rice
“I had a great experience with my California probate case using A People’s Choice! The people that assisted me were so helpful.  I certainly could not have done this probate by myself.  The best part was that I was able to save over $10,000 in lawyer fees!  All my emails were always returned so quickly. Needless to say, I am a very satisfied customer.  I would highly recommend A People’s Choice to all my friends and family!”
Joi C
“Probate itself is a frustrating and expensive process. A People’s Choice was professional and courteous throughout a long probate process. Everyone I came in contact with at A People’s Choice was exceptionally helpful, patient, and professional. For those entering into the probate process, I must warn you that it is difficult to understand. The staff at A People’s Choice makes it as tolerable you could wish for.  The people who work there were kind, efficient, and understanding.  If you email your questions, they’ll get back to you and won’t make you feel like you are ignorant if you are unclear about any part of the process.”
Marcel B
“After not having my call returned from a probate lawyer, I looked into doing a Spousal Property Petition myself.  A People’s Choice assisted me through the whole probate process and everything went smoothly.  When I appeared in court, I didn’t have to say a word. The judge just said, “granted.”  Using A People’s Choice I saved thousands of dollars, and I’m so glad that probate attorney didn’t return my call.  I highly recommend A People’s Choice.”
Donna G.
“When my father passed away without a will, we needed help handling the transfer of his assets. Since there weren’t significant assets, I didn’t want to spend too much on the legal paperwork. A People’s Choice offered just the right service we needed. In particular, the staff was very responsive to our document filing needs, helping to turn around corrections almost immediately. They helped to ease a tough situation.”
Michael C.
“I had hoped to have my probate process taken care of by myself to save money. After the fourth attempt to file at the Clerk’s office, I left in tears and faced the reality of hiring an attorney. I look on the internet to find one and came across A People’s Choice. They offered a price that was way below what attorneys charge! They guided me through every step of the process and wrote up all the paperwork so that all I had to do was sign. It was really an amazing experience. They are a pleasure to work with.”
D. Chase.
“A People Choice provided excellent support with the appropriate legal documents and filing process in a spousal property petition after my husband passed. Lawyers wanted to charge me a fortune. However, once I spoke with someone at A People’s Choice, they took on my case and guided me through every step. A People’s Choice has years of experience, which gave me a sense of trust and confidence. I always got immediate feedback from every email request. If you need probate help, I would highly recommend A People’s Choice.”
Sylvia A
“We had a complicated situation trying to change the beneficiaries to an old family property. There were 7 owners, most of whom were born in the 1800s. A People’s Choice persevered along with us and got it done. Lawyers we had contacted wanted $1000’s more than APC charged us and were unsure as to how to even proceed. We are extremely happy with what they achieved for us.”
Lori A.
“Thank you so much for all your help through this California probate process.  By using your company instead of a California probate lawyer, we were able to cut our expenses dramatically.  Thank you for answering my many questions and for giving me a heads up on documents that could be prepared in advance in order to save time and money.  There was always someone available to help! Thank you again.”
Craig K.
“My father-in-law passed away without a will so his estate went into probate and we were intimidated by the paperwork and court process ahead of us. A lawyer was recommended to us, but after sending him everything he asked for he did nothing with it for several weeks and was slow to get back to us. His fees were set to be thousands upon thousands and we were frustrated that progress wasn’t happening. We stumbled upon A People’s Choice and we took a leap, switched, and we’re so glad we did. They were quick to respond and moved as quickly as we did. They saved us SO MUCH money and answered all our questions. We worked together to get everything done smoothly, and we felt like APC treated us with respect and patience. We are so grateful we found them and got everything done with confidence. Thank you APC!”
Suzie H.
“I would have never thought I could complete a full probate online without an attorney. A Peoples Choice guided me through the process every step of the way. They are a very professional and knowledgeable company far exceeding my expectations. My advice to anyone seeking this kind of service is as long as you are committed to doing your part, with A Peoples Choice guidance you will complete the task. A Peoples Choice Is a 5-star company that I was lucky enough to stumble upon in my searching process.”
Rhonda G.
“I am writing to give A People’s Choice my utmost recommendation. Living in New England, I found them on the web. After speaking with a staff member on the phone I had the confidence to give them my business. A People’s Choice handled my probate case with great professionalism and knowledge. My case turned out to be more complicated than originally believed, and the staff walked me through each step. They always responded promptly to my email questions. In the end, their service was exactly what I hoped for; they saved me thousands of dollars and allowed me to do it from across the country. They were truly a pleasure to work with.”
K. Levenson
“The entire team at A People’s Choice were very supportive in our probate case. Losing a parent is extremely difficult, and so is the subsequent paperwork.  A People’s Choice made it easier and charged a very fair price, saving us thousands in attorney fees. What I liked a lot was the transparency and digital tools used. Documents were managed via email and on a platform. Payment for court items was easy. I appreciate that they use modern methods in an old school industry and most things could be done remotely. All in all, I can definitely recommend A People’s Choice if your case is straightforward. Thank you to Sandy and team for helpful us get here! What a huge relief! I’m glad we had your support along the way. Made it way less stressful and way more manageable.”
Jenn C.
“When my mother-in-law passed away last year, we didn’t know what to do. We contacted A People’s Choice and from day one they were very helpful. They held our hand every step of the way, and if I had a question any time of the day or night someone got back to me within a few hours. I highly recommend A People’s Choice if you don’t know what to do and don’t want to pay the high price of a lawyer, especially if you don’t have much money.”
Mikki C
“VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!! My experience with A People’s Choice was EXCELLENT!! I retained their services to help me with the probate process after unexpectedly losing my Mom. I received quotes from 2 lawyers locally and they were 3 to 4 times the price. All communications from the staff were punctual and very thoroughly explained. They were there to support me the entire time. Any and all questions I had were explained as needed with very quick responses. There were NO HIDDEN FEES or charges. They have a very easy to use portal to access all of the documents. I can’t say enough good things about the work that they did for me!!! Thank you to all the staff. You are an amazing team and I appreciate everything you did to help my family and I when we needed it most!!”
Hisham A.
“I needed help understanding and filling out legal documents, but I didn’t have enough money to pay for an attorney. After searching the internet, I found A People’s Choice. I was relieved to know that I would get the exact service that I needed at an affordable price. The staff was very professional and helpful with my legal documents. They worked around my schedule and responded to my emails in a timely manner. They took care of all the paperwork and filing and kept me posted. I would highly recommend A People’s Choice for your legal documents as you will get outstanding service at an affordable price.
Sharon B.
“A People’s Choice helped us throughout our entire year-long probate making the process very easy and manageable while at the same time saving us thousands of dollars in lawyer’s fees. Not only were they extremely friendly and fast to respond to our questions but they made the process simple enough that we hardly ever had to contact the courthouse directly and we even had a hearing done without an appearance. Would highly recommend A People’s Choice to anyone!”
A. Vuckovich
“A People’s Choice walked me through the entire probate process. This company is very professional and helpful and made a scary probate pretty much stress free. I would send an email with a question I had thought of over the weekend with the expectation I would get an answer on Monday but lo and behold, I often got an answer within minutes! Thank you to the staff for your guidance and patience to talk me through such a difficult time. You made the process very smooth! Probably saved us about $10,000! We are very pleased and will be referring our friends/family to A People’s Choice!”
L. Garrett.
“I used A People’s Choice to prepare and file documents to probate my sister’s estate.  I began the probate process in pro per and hired them after discovering the difficulty in processing the probate by myself.  Very knowledgeable with good technology to keep me informed.  Their fees were significantly less than what I would have had to pay for an attorney, yet their services were excellent. I can’s see where an attorney would have been any better (or as good). Highly recommend this service.”
Ron C.
“I must say that A People’s Choice is a very responsible and effective company. The staff there is very nice and replied to all my questions by email quickly. With their help, I accomplished the probate in 8 months successfully and saved at least $10,000.00 in attorney fees, so I strongly recommend everybody to contract with A People’s Choice and let them help you with your legal documents. You will be very satisfied with their work as I did!!!!”
C. Chiu
“I cannot say enough about the time and money this company saved me. With their help I finished Probate in Tulare Co on my brother estate in little over 12 months. I am a letter carrier with no legal training, yet , I completed the entire process mainly because A People’s Choice walked me thru each step. They filed most papers electronically which resulted in me needing only three court appearances (and saved me from many trips to Visalia.) Keep in mind, all probates are different but if you have limited resources I recommend this company. The Probate Judge complimented me on the good work I received from A People’s Choice, saying this was not always to case with other legal help offices.”
Jack M.
“A People’s Choice worked on my probate case for over 1 year. Their knowledge, dedication, and commitment to clients are exceptional, preparing the required legal documents, and all the court filings. They used the e-filing system which really expedited the process. They always answered my emails in a very timely manner and were professional. The probate process is long and sometimes seems overwhelming. It’s also very expensive, A People’s Choice saved me thousands of dollars as compared to an attorney. I would highly recommend A People’s Choice for your probate needs. It’s cost effective, and they handle the entire process from beginning to end!”
C.K..
“I used A People’s Choice for help with a probate matter. My grandfather died Christmas of 2016. He had a living trust, but no one was able to find it. We went to A People’s Choice, and we were able to do a probate affidavit to get what was left of my grandfather’s estate. Took two days for the documents to be prepared and the bank accepted them without any questions. Sandy was the one who assisted us, and we really appreciate the help that was provided. A+ service.”
David R.
“A People’s Choice did a great job on the probate I had to go through for my mom. I really didn’t have to think about most of it. I just signed or filled out the papers they sent through the Portal. I would definitely use A People’s Choice again if the need arises! All their people were professional and friendly. Overall it was a great experience for me at a very difficult time!”
L. Wade.

We Help to File Probate in El Dorado County!

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Important Money Saving Tip!

The averge home value in El Dorado County is $442,400 and it is predicted these values will rise approximately 4.8% within the next year. Probate attorneys charge statutory fees based on the gross value of the estate, starting at 4%, on a tiered scale. For example, attorneys fees for a $400,000 probate filed in El Dorado County would be $12,000! By using the flat fee services of an experienced probate legal document assistant, the estate can save thousands of dollars.

Click here to see how much you can save!

Overview of Probate

First, to start probate, a loved one or executor will file a Petition. Next, the personal representative will need to notify all creditors, beneficiaries, and immediate family members of the probate filing. Following this, upon being appointed to represent the probate estate, the personal representative will have to complete an inventory and appraisal of the decedent’s estate. In this regard, the probate referee will appraise all non-monetary assets. With this in mind, once appraised, assets may be liquidated to pay outstanding taxes and creditors.  Lastly, once the probate is complete, the personal representative will distribute the remainig assets to the beneficiaries and heirs.

Contact A People’s Choice for more information on how to file probate in El Dorado County.

Why You May Not Want to Hire a Probate Attorney

In the first place, we cannot stress the importance of working with a legal document preparer to save money in probating an estate. Straightaway, most people, without much thought, rush to hire an attorney after their loved one dies. Furthermore, most attorneys fail to tell their clients that their services are not necessarily required to complete probate. Obviously, this is in large part because probate is very procedural and mostly consists of completing paperwork. Given these points, why pay an attorney thousands of dollars to complete simple forms?

To begin with, attorneys receive high statutory fees to probate an estate. As an illustration, the gross value of an estate determines the allowed attorney fee, not the amount of work an attorney may have to do. In the event that housing values continue to increase, probate attorneys are expected to receive astronomical fees during the coming years. For example, an attorney will receive a higher sum for probating an estate worth $1.2 million in comparison to $800,000 although both cases may require the same amount of work.

On the other hand, if you choose to work with an experienced legal document preparer you can save yourself thousands of dollars to probate your loved one’s estate. A People’s Choice provides legal document preparation and case management services for probate cases in all California counties.

Where to File Probate in El Dorado County

The El Dorado County court hears probate matters at the following addresses:

Fair Lane Branch
295 Fair Lane
Placerville, CA 95667

South Lake Tahoe Branch
1354 Johnson Blvd.
South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150

The County is divided into two zones. More specifically, the northeast corner of the County is in the Lake Tahoe basin, while the rest of the County is in the “western slope,” the area west of Echo Summit. The El Dorado County Probate Division hears legal matters including probate, conservatorship, guardianship, and limited conservatorships. The probate cases are split between Departments 4 and 8

To clarify, all Western Slope probates are filed at 295 Fair Lane, Placerville, CA 95667 and assigned to Judge Dylan Sullivan, Department 8. Conversely, all South Lake Tahoe probate filings shall be filed at 1354 Johnson Blvd., South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150 and assigned to Judge Steven C. Bailey, Department 4. Office hours of the Clerk’s offices are from 8:00 a.m. through 3:00 p.m. Monday through Friday excluding court holidays. Another critical point, wills should be lodged with the court 30 days from the day a person passes away.

El Dorado County Probate Rules

Although most courts use Court Call to allow a party to appear by phone, the El Dorado County Superior Court has their own court-run remote telephonic appearance system. You can only schedule a telephonic appearance through the court’s website. You cannot register to appear by phone unless you do so through the website. However, you can contact 530-621-5080 to speak with a court representative for telephonic appearance support.

Adjudicated Newspapers for El Dorado County

The Mountain Democrat at  2889 Ray Lawyer Drive, Placerville, CA 95667 is El Dorado County’s leading newspaper for legal publications. You can contact them to arrange the required publication of the probate notice at (530) 622-1255, Monday through Friday, between 8 am and 5 pm.

El Dorado County Probate Examiner

At the present time, the probate examiner for El Dorado County posts tentative rulings on the court’s website. The notes will point out deficiencies and changes that the court is requiring before they will approve the Petition. In this regard, you can get access to these rulings using the links below.

Tentative rulings for probate case in the Placerville Court
Tentative rulings in the South Lake Tahoe Court

El Dorado County Probate Referee

If you need to contact the probate referee for El Dorado County, you can reach out to Linda Molinari who is the only probate referee for El Dorado County. Her address is 3941 Park Drive, #20-256, El Dorado Hills, CA  95762; telephone (916) 844-8070 and e-mail eldoradoprobate@gmail.com.

The job of the probate referee is to value all the decedent’s assets. First, the personal representative must prepare the Inventory and Appraisal form which the probate referee will use to provide the asset values. Furthermore, this valuation process by the probate referee can take several weeks to several months. Next, once the referee completes the inventory, the document is filed with the court.

How to Complete Probate in El Dorado County

To summarize, you can file probate in El Dorado County and save the estate thousands of dollars using the services of a legal document assistant. A People’s Choice has helped thousands of people file probate in California. Let’s be honest, everyone wants to save money. In fact, you can calculate precisely how much you will save using our online probate calculator.

Contact A People’s Choice for more information on how to file probate in El Dorado County. Using our non-attorney probate services will undoubtedly save the estate thousands of dollars, putting more money into the pockets of the beneficiaries and heirs. Call us today at 800-747-2780.

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