What Is “Probate”?

It is a legal proceeding required to settle a deceased person’s estate, paying all debts of the decedent, and distributing the property to the heirs and beneficiaries.

California Probate means that there is a court case that deals with:

Deciding if a will exists and is valid;
Figuring out who are the decedent’s heirs or beneficiaries;
Figuring out how much the decedent’s property is worth;
Taking care of the decedent’s financial responsibilities; and
Transferring the decedent’s property to the heirs or beneficiaries.

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Effective January 01, 2000, and for the first time, a new California law known as SB1418 authorizes non-lawyers to prepare legal documents for people doing their own legal tasks and representing themselves in courts.  These non-lawyers are called Legal Document Assistants [LDAs].

LDA may prepare legal documents in a ministerial manner; provide attorney-authored general information and published legal documents; and file and serve documents at the direction of the client.

As for Registration Procedures: The registrant LDA shall complete 15 hours of continuing legal education courses, which meet the requirements of Section 6070, during the two-year period preceding renewal and is not required to complete legal ethics education as part of the required 15 hours of continuing legal education courses.

What is the advantage of hiring an LDA?

A Paralegal

Is an individual qualified by education, training or work experience who is employed or retained by a lawyer, law office, corporation, governmental agency, or other entity and who performs specifically delegated substantive legal work for which a lawyer is responsible. Paralegals perform tasks requiring knowledge of the law and legal procedures.

A Paralegal is not a lawyer but is typically employed by a law office or internal legal department of a company.

Paralegals operate under a form of independent legal ethics and, with few exceptions, must also conduct their work under the formal supervision of an attorney.

Paralegals can conduct their own business and are called LDAs [in other States, called Law Agents], providing services such as settlements, court filings, legal rese auxiliary other auxiliary legal services; these tasks often have instructions from a solicitor attached.