Personalized Estate Planning. Expert Trust Administration. Compassionate Support.
Planning for the future means caring for the people you love. Whether that means supporting a child with special needs, settling a loved one’s trust, or building your estate plan, our team is here to guide you.
Planning That Supports Your Family, Now and Into the Future
We’re here for every milestone:
- When your child gains independence
- When public benefits change
- When family roles shift
- When the unexpected happens
With our unique approach, we design estate plans, Special Needs Trusts and Dynasty Trusts that can grow and adapt over time. Whether you’re planning for a child with disabilities, managing a parent’s trust, or coordinating care between family members, we create structures that are both strong and flexible.
Our process is hands-on, collaborative, and deeply customized. We take the time to understand your unique circumstances, then work with you to design a plan that’s legally sound, emotionally thoughtful, and will work when you’re gone.
It’s not just planning for today – it’s building a pathway for the future.
What We Do
Custom Estate Planning and Trust Services for Every Stage of Life
Estate Planning for Families and Individuals
Create a legally sound plan for your assets, your wishes, and the people you love. From revocable living trusts to advance health care directives, we tailor each plan to your family’s needs.
Special Needs Trusts and Dynasty Trusts
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Trust Administration & Trustee Support
Administering a trust after a loved one’s passing can be overwhelming. We provide step-by-step legal guidance, document preparation, and ongoing support for your successor trustee, making sure the beneficiaries are ultimately provided for.
Alternatives to Conservatorships
For families of young adults with disabilities, we discuss with you whether a conservatorship is needed and explore less restrictive options whenever possible. Our team helps ensure legal authority, compassionately handled. (Please note: Cookman Law does not handle Limited Conservatorships, but when one is necessary, we can refer you to a trusted firm that does.)
Looking for clarity on where to begin?
We offer practical tools to help you start with confidence, including our video library and YouTube channel to prepare for your consultation.
Why Families Choose Us
Expertise, Empathy, and Ongoing Support, All in One Place
At Cookman Law, we know that estate planning isn’t just about documents – it’s about people, relationships, and long-term peace of mind.
Our clients come to us for legal guidance, and stay with us because they feel supported, understood, and empowered.
What makes us different?
What Our Clients Are Saying
Real Words from Families We’ve Helped“This was the A to Z experience we always hoped for but had never found.“
Ellen and her team were exceedingly helpful on both fronts – closing out my mom’s trust and bringing my brother’s special needs trust up to speed. They helped ensure everything was done correctly, which made the process much easier during a difficult time.
~Rich Collyear
Extraordinary. They redid our will, 2 Trusts, 2 Powers of Attorney. I worked with associate attorney Amiee over many months of drafts and rewrites. She was helpful beyond words and always communicated quickly. Ellen Cookman is an expert in Special Needs Trusts, which is why I hired her..I cannot recommend them highly enough.
~Jennifer Shaw
Ellen Cookman Law made the impossible possible for our small family. She and her highly skilled supportive responsive loving team found a way for me to stay in my lifelong family home as a disabled person and navigated some difficult waters with us setting up Special Needs and other trusts. As we near completion of our time with Cookman law I felt I was held in a caring loving family of experts to secure our family goals and preserve my dignity as someone who lives with mental challenges and find a way to live an independent life within the illness. The paperwork is so clear and clean and arrived yesterday and I haven’t slept better in months!
~Michelle LePanei
A Dedicated Legal Team That Plans With You and For You
At Cookman Law, we help families across California plan for what’s ahead, whether that means establishing a customized estate plan, creating a Special Needs Trust or Dynasty Trust for loved ones with a disability or just need extra protection, or navigating trust administration after the loss of a family member.
We focus exclusively on estate planning, special needs planning, and trust administration, providing the insight and experience to handle both straightforward and highly complex cases.
We don’t just draft documents. We build relationships that last and create plans that evolve alongside your life, your family, and your goals.
And our approach is personal and collaborative: our team works with you from the very first conversation through each milestone, transition, or decision that arises.
Meet the team that makes it all possible!
Want to know what it’s like to work with us?
Ellen Cookman
Special Needs Attorney
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Empowering You With Tools, Knowledge, and Ongoing Support
We believe the best legal plans are built on understanding, rather than overwhelm. That’s why we offer educational resources designed to help you make confident, informed decisions throughout every stage of your family’s journey.
Explore our most trusted tools:
We’re here to help you plan with clarity
and keep your plan current as your life evolves.
Let’s Talk About Your Family’s Future
Whether you’re creating an estate plan for the first time, updating an outdated trust, or navigating trust administration after the loss of a loved one, we’re here to help.
At Cookman Law, we guide families with care, clarity, and deep legal experience. Let’s start a conversation about protecting your family for generations to come.