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highly experienced lawyer Over 25 Years of Legal Experience
ARAG, Metlife, Metlife Legal Plans, LegalEASE, Legal Club accepted Accepts Most Employee-Sponsored Legal Insurance
fast and efficient Fast & Efficient Service
early hours available Flexible appointments as early as 6 AM
highly experienced lawyer Over 25 Years of Legal Experience
ARAG, Metlife, Metlife Legal Plans, LegalEASE, Legal Club accepted Accepts Most Employee-Sponsored Legal Insurance
fast and efficient Fast & Efficient Service – Quick turnaround on legal matters
early hours available Flexible Appointment Hours – Available as early as 6 AM

Why You Should Hire a San Diego Estate Planning Attorney

Legal matters can be complex and intimidating if you don’t know what you’re doing. This is why you should contact a lawyer, which is a professional who trained for years to resolve your exact issue. Finding a trusted San Diego attorney can be a challenge in itself, which is why your first consultation is free.

Estate planning is not the same as writing a will. It’s at least four different forms, sometimes more. In addition to the will, other key documents include the Power of Attorney, Trust, and Healthcare Directives. Depending on how detailed the estate plan is, it could reach over 100 pages!

Then there’s also the matter filing it with the San Diego County court. Spare yourself the headache of doing all that yourself by hiring an estate planning attorney who can walk you through the entire process, pain-free. You won’t even need to set foot inside a courthouse.

5 star rating

Ian made the estate planning process seamless and stress-free. He took the time to explain everything in clear, understandable terms, ensuring we felt confident in our decisions.

— Jen Armstrong

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I’ve Been Named Trustee in Someone’s Estate Plan. What Do I Do?

Executing an estate plan far more complex than most people realize. Where do you even start? That’s why we’ve created this Successor Trustee Checklist to help you navigate this often frustrating process.

Clients Love Us

Law Offices of Ian S. Topf, APC place picture
5.0
Based on 26 reviews
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P LW profile pictureP LW
18:53 15 Nov 25
Ian has been great to work with for our will and trust. He takes his time explaining legal language, uses hypothetical scenarios and past similar examples to answer our questions. He’s extremely knowledgeable, personable, has a good sense of humor and very reasonable fees for service! My husband and I highly recommend him.
Kathylee Valdez profile pictureKathylee Valdez
05:25 11 Nov 25
Ian helped me create my living trust. He was patient, detailed and professional. I highly recommend Ian!
Ana Partida profile pictureAna Partida
22:28 10 Nov 25
Ian completed my parents’ trust documents. He was kind, patient, affordable, and extremely knowledgeable. He completed everything quickly and correctly. We highly recommend this attorney!
JT ML profile pictureJT ML
04:00 08 Nov 25
Ian was great to work with for my pre-nup agreement. He was clear with his explanations and always gave me his honest opinion when I asked. Would recommend him 100% to all my friends and family!
Jenni Rubio profile pictureJenni Rubio
17:51 07 Nov 25
Ian Topf was helpful for everything we needed. Even when we procrastinated on our end, he made every attempt to accommodate our needs and work on our estate plans. 5/5
JakeBryan Bonifacio profile pictureJakeBryan Bonifacio
04:54 12 Oct 25
I’m really glad I chose to work with Ian for my prenuptial agreement. From the start, he was professional, clear, and easy to communicate with. He walked me through important details I hadn’t considered, which made the whole process feel smooth and stress-free. Despite a tight timeline before the ceremony, he was flexible and made sure everything was completed on time. If you're looking for an honest, reliable, and communicative attorney, Ian is a great choice.
Annette Taylor profile pictureAnnette Taylor
21:20 04 Sep 25
I retained Mr. Topf, based on a friend's recommendation who had a good experience, to create a trust and update my will and all of the associated paperwork (it was quite a bit!). He was professional, friendly, answered all of my questions. Sent me a worksheet to prepare before our first meeting and several days later we had our second meeting to sign and file all the papers. His fee was very reasonable and included all of the filings and signatures and notarizations, etc. I would highly recommend Mr. Topf for similar work.
Tam Nguyen profile pictureTam Nguyen
20:46 27 Jul 25
I initially sought the legal services of Ian Topf for a family legal matter and subsequently for estate planning. Throughout both engagements, Ian demonstrated a calm and composed demeanor, providing a reassuring approach that helped me feel at ease. He took the time to thoroughly review my cases, offering insightful guidance and identifying solutions that were not only in my best interest but also considerate of both time and financial constraints.

Ian is clearly highly knowledgeable in his area of expertise (which covers a wide range of legal practices), yet his fees remain fair and reasonable, avoiding any excessive charges. Due to the positive experience and strong professional relationship established, I have since referred several family members to his office, confident that they will receive the same high level of care and attention.
Bobby A profile pictureBobby A
13:46 25 Jun 25
After a traumatic experience with another attorney, working with Ian was specially refreshing. He helped us with the restatement of our trust. He was very knowledgeable, and actually responsive. We will definitely go back to him for any future needs, and recommend him to anyone else.
Shauni Bidwell profile pictureShauni Bidwell
19:57 29 Mar 25
As most people tend to do, I had put off getting my affairs in order for too long. Who wants to deal with that kind of stuff? Ian Topf made a complex process simple and easy for me to understand. He answered all of my questions (and I had a lot!), and walked me through different scenarios until I felt comfortable with my decisions. I highly recommend Ian Topf's professionalism and expertise.
Jen Armstrong profile pictureJen Armstrong
18:20 29 Mar 25
Ian S. Topf, Esq. made the estate planning process seamless and stress-free. He took the time to explain everything in clear, understandable terms, ensuring we felt confident in our decisions. His pricing was fair and transparent, and he completed the entire process with great attention to detail and efficiency. We truly appreciate his professionalism and expertise and highly recommend him to anyone looking for a knowledgeable and trustworthy estate planning attorney!
Eric Rivas profile pictureEric Rivas
21:05 24 Mar 25
Ian is an awesome estate planning attorney! My wife and I were fortunate to find his contact information through our MetLife legal plan. Ian stood out among the crowd as highly experienced, and when we met with him, he exceeded our expectations. Very personable, sharp, patient, and easy to talk to — he breaks down the process into easy to understand steps and raises examples and anecdotes that provide helpful color for his explanations and advice.

We highly recommend Ian for estate planning! 10/10. We’ll be returning to him with any additional estate planning questions.
Ian drafted our trust within a week as we had a time constraint and was patient, extremely knowledgeable and went above and beyond to get this done for us. Highly recommend!!
Zhongying Mo profile pictureZhongying Mo
16:59 07 Mar 25
Ian is an excellent attorney. He’s very knowledgeable and helpful. I would highly recommend him.
Zoe Blessing profile pictureZoe Blessing
21:01 03 Mar 25
Ian walked us through the creation of an estate plan for a domestic partnership. He was clear, patient, straightforward, and easy to understand. As an LGBTQ couple, we felt very comfortable talking to him. He made a potentially complex process easy for us!

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