North County Estate Planning
North County estate planning attorneys
Our Cardiff-by-the-Sea office is across the street from the ocean and has been the firm’s home base since the beginning. This is who we are in North County, and which communities we serve from it.
Tresp Law, APC plans estates for North County San Diego families from its office at 2533 S Coast Hwy 101, Suite 210, Cardiff-by-the-Sea, CA 92007. We serve Encinitas, Cardiff-by-the-Sea, Leucadia, Solana Beach, Del Mar, Rancho Santa Fe, Carlsbad, Escondido, San Marcos, Vista, Carmel Valley, Poway, Rancho Bernardo and La Jolla.
This is a local page, not a legal explainer. If you want to know what a revocable living trust does, how it differs from a will, or which of the specialised structures apply to your situation, read our estate planning and trusts pages. What follows is North County-specific: the office, the communities, and what the coastal property picture adds to a plan.
North County at a glance
- Office
- Cardiff-by-the-Sea — 2533 S Coast Hwy 101, Suite 210, Cardiff-by-the-Sea, CA 92007
- Also our mailing address
- Yes — this is the firm’s primary office
- Communities served
- Encinitas, Cardiff-by-the-Sea, Leucadia, Solana Beach, Del Mar, Rancho Santa Fe, Carlsbad, Escondido, San Marcos, Vista, Carmel Valley, Poway, Rancho Bernardo, and La Jolla
- Second San Diego County office
- Mission Brewery Plaza — 2150 W Washington St, Suite 203, San Diego, CA 92110
- Court venue
- Probate matters for all of North County are heard at the San Diego County Superior Court, Central Division
- Phone
- (858) 248-2779
The Cardiff office
The Cardiff-by-the-Sea office at 2533 S Coast Hwy 101, Suite 210, Cardiff-by-the-Sea, CA 92007 is in the heart of Cardiff, just across the street from the ocean, and it is also the firm’s mailing address. Most North County planning clients never need to go anywhere else: drafting, signing and funding all happen here. Our second San Diego County office, Mission Brewery Plaza at 2150 W Washington St, Suite 203, San Diego, CA 92110, is the one closest to the courthouse, which matters if a plan later becomes an administration or a dispute.
To be explicit, because the firm’s older listings were not: we have two offices in San Diego County — Cardiff-by-the-Sea and Mission Brewery Plaza in San Diego — plus an office in Kemmerer, Wyoming. Solana Beach, Del Mar, Rancho Santa Fe and the rest of the list below are communities we serve, not locations we occupy. All three offices are listed on our locations page.
Communities we serve from Cardiff
- Coastal: Encinitas, Cardiff-by-the-Sea, Leucadia, Solana Beach, Del Mar, Carlsbad and La Jolla
- Inland north: Rancho Santa Fe, Escondido, San Marcos and Vista
- South and east of the office: Carmel Valley, Poway and Rancho Bernardo
Which office, and where a matter is heard
| Cardiff-by-the-Sea office | Mission Brewery Plaza office | |
|---|---|---|
| Address | 2533 S Coast Hwy 101, Suite 210, Cardiff-by-the-Sea 92007 | 2150 W Washington St, Suite 203, San Diego 92110 |
| Firm mailing address | Yes | No |
| Closest to | Encinitas, Leucadia, Solana Beach, Del Mar, Rancho Santa Fe, Carlsbad, Escondido, San Marcos, Vista | The city of San Diego, La Jolla, Carmel Valley, Poway, Rancho Bernardo |
| Planning, signing and funding | Yes | Yes |
| Nearest the county courthouse | No | Yes — minutes from it |
| Where a contested matter is filed | San Diego County Superior Court, Central Division | San Diego County Superior Court, Central Division |
What North County property adds to a plan
Much of the value in a North County estate sits in real property that has been in the family a long time, and that shapes the planning. Two points come up in almost every meeting. The first is funding: the trust only protects the house if a deed transferring it has actually been recorded with the San Diego County Recorder, and an unfunded trust sends the property to probate anyway, where fees are calculated on gross value under Probate Code §10810 — the mortgage does not reduce them. The second is property tax: a long-held Encinitas or Del Mar home may carry a very low assessed value, and how the transfer is reported to the County Assessor decides whether that basis survives.
What working with us looks like
A first meeting in Cardiff is a conversation, not a document sale. We look at what you own and how it is titled, talk through who should be in charge if you cannot be, and quote the work before drafting starts. If someone has already died, the same office handles trust administration for successor trustees and, where there was no trust, probate. If you are in the city rather than the north, see San Diego estate planning or our San Diego trust page.
Talk to a North County estate planning attorney
Tell us what you are dealing with and we will tell you plainly where you stand, which office is most convenient, and what the next step costs. Call (858) 248-2779 or request a consultation online. Tresp Law, APC was founded in 2013 by Elizabeth A. Tresp, JD, LL.M., who reviews every matter the firm takes.
Related services
Common questions
Frequently asked
Do you have an office in Solana Beach or Del Mar?
No. We serve Solana Beach and Del Mar, but our North County office is in Cardiff-by-the-Sea at 2533 S Coast Hwy 101, Suite 210, Cardiff-by-the-Sea, CA 92007. Our only other San Diego County office is Mission Brewery Plaza at 2150 W Washington St, Suite 203, San Diego, CA 92110. Older directory listings showing other addresses are out of date.
Which North County communities do you serve?
From the Cardiff office we work with families in Encinitas, Cardiff-by-the-Sea, Leucadia, Solana Beach, Del Mar, Rancho Santa Fe, Carlsbad, Escondido, San Marcos, Vista, Carmel Valley, Poway, Rancho Bernardo, and La Jolla. Most planning matters are handled entirely from Cardiff.
If a North County estate ends up in court, where does it go?
To the Central Division of the San Diego County Superior Court. The county hears probate matters there rather than in the branch courthouses, so an Encinitas, Carlsbad or Escondido estate is administered downtown. Our Mission Brewery Plaza office is the closer one on court days.
Will moving my Encinitas home into a trust change my property taxes?
A transfer into your own revocable living trust is not intended to be a change in ownership for property tax purposes, but it must be reported to the San Diego County Assessor on the correct form. For long-held coastal homes with a low assessed value, this paperwork is worth getting right the first time.
Can you help with property outside San Diego County?
Yes. The firm is licensed in California, and Elizabeth A. Tresp is additionally admitted in Wyoming and Montana, with an office at 821 S Main St, Kemmerer, WY 83101. Out-of-state real property may still require an ancillary proceeding in the state where it sits, and we coordinate that.
This page is general legal information, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. California trust and probate law is fact-specific and deadlines are unforgiving — please speak with a qualified attorney about your own circumstances.
Talk with a San Diego trust & estate attorney
Let’s protect what you’ve built.
Whether you are planning ahead, administering a trust or estate, or facing a dispute, our attorneys will tell you plainly where you stand and what your options are.