Estate Planning​, Probate,
​& Trust Administration

Helping you protect your legacy and loved ones.

Meeting with an attorney should not be intimidating, tedious, or uncomfortable. ​

​This is especially true when you are hiring that attorney to craft an estate plan which protects your legacy and loved ones. You should expect to receive caring, high quality legal advice from efficient and ethical attorneys. At Shiells & Hammer, we take pride in exceeding those expectations.

Our attorneys are friendly, hard-working, and knowledgeable in the fields of Estate Planning, Trusts Administration, and Probate. Our goal is to earn your trust and confidence with every interaction. With offices in Roseville and Sacramento, we provide services to clients in Placer County, Sacramento County, the Bay Area, and throughout California.

PRACTICE

Practice
Estate Planning
Estate Planning

An effective estate plan ensures you have a say in your financial and medical future.

Successor Trustees and Trust Administration
Successor Trustees and Trust Administration

The death of a friend or family member can be an emotional and destabilizing time. In addition to the emotional toll, there are many legal and financial issues that need to be addressed in a timely manner.

Special Needs Planning
Special Needs Planning

Every family is different. For those who have loved ones with developmental delays, disabilities, or other special needs, creating an estate plan which secures a fulfilling future for the whole family can be particularly emotional and overwhelming. At Shiells & Hammer, we strive to provide compassionate, understanding support to help families make informed decisions about what is right for their unique family situation.

Probate Court Proceedings
Probate Court Proceedings

The primary goal of most proactive estate planning is to avoid time-consuming and costly Probate Court Proceedings. However, when probate court in unavoidable, we are here for you.

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Our Attorneys

  • Adam S. Shiells is a founding partner of Shiells & Hammer. He works with clients to craft individually tailored estate plans designed to minimize cost, conflict, and impact on loved ones. For most clients, this means an estate plan designed to avoid probate court proceedings. However, when probate court is unavoidable, Adam applies procedural knowledge and trial experience to obtain favorable results for his clients.

  • James R. Hammer is a founding partner of Shiells & Hammer. He practices Estate Planning, Trust Administration, and Elder Law. James discovered his passion for this practice area during law school when he served as trustee for the estate of a close family friend. Seeing the power of a proper estate plan, James realized by becoming an Estate Planning attorney he could help families navigate both the difficulty of proactive contingency planning, and the difficult and emotional time following the death of a loved one.

Our Team

LATEST BLOG POSTS

Blog
What is probate?
What is probate?

The short answer: Probate is the court-supervised process by which a deceased person’s assets are used to pay outstanding debts and then distributed to relatives. But that doesn’t really tell you much. In today’s blog, I’ll walk you through a simple Probate I recently completed so you have an idea of what this process looks like.

ADVANCE HEALTH CARE DIRECTIVES IN A PANDEMIC
ADVANCE HEALTH CARE DIRECTIVES IN A PANDEMIC

Although it has always been important, certainly the Covid-19 pandemic has brought even more attention to having an Advance Health Care Directive in place. The purpose of this document is to ensure that your medical wishes will be respected, even if you lose the ability to make decisions for yourself.

AN UPDATE FROM YOUR FRIENDS AT SHIELLS & HAMMER
AN UPDATE FROM YOUR FRIENDS AT SHIELLS & HAMMER

We hope all of you are keeping safe and healthy. I want to thank everyone who has reached out to check in and offer support. Given the outpouring, I thought it would be a good idea to provide a quick update about your favorite law office.