On a tree-lined block just off Manchester Boulevard, 52-year-old Tanya gets up at 5 a.m. most days — not for herself, but for her mother.
She lines up medications, checks blood sugar, helps with a slow, careful walk to the bathroom, then makes oatmeal before logging in to her remote job. In between Zoom calls, she’s scheduling doctor visits, fighting with insurance and answering the same questions her mom asks every afternoon as dementia chips away at old memories.
“I knew I’d be helping with bathing and appointments,” Tanya says. “I didn’t realize I’d also be the one trying to figure out the house, the bank accounts, the trust — or if we even had one.”
November is National Family Caregivers Month, a time set aside each year to recognize more than 50–60 million Americans who provide unpaid care to loved ones. In California, about 23% of adults — more than 7 million people — are caregivers. The San Diego Voice & Viewpoint Many live in communities like Inglewood and South Los Angeles, where the family home is often the main asset and the glue that holds generations together.
Yet while we celebrate their sacrifices, a quieter crisis is unfolding: caregivers are being forced into the role of “unofficial lawyer” for parents and grandparents, often without a map — and the cost of getting it wrong can be a painful, public trip through probate court.
When caregiving collides with the court system
Probate is the court process that kicks in when someone dies without a proper estate plan or when their affairs are not clearly organized. In Los Angeles County, probate can drag on for many months or even years, with court fees, legal costs and family tensions piling up along the way.
For caregivers already stretched thin, that’s not a hypothetical.
Down the road from Tanya, “Marcus,” 39, is raising two kids while caring for his grandfather, a retired mechanic who bought his Inglewood home in the late 1970s. The house is paid off. The title? Not so clear.
“We found an old will and a stack of letters, but no living trust,” Marcus says. “If something happens to him tomorrow, I have no idea what I’m walking into. I don’t want to lose this house to the system because we missed a form.”
Stories like Tanya’s and Marcus’s aren’t rare. National surveys show that family caregivers are handling everything from medical decisions to bill-paying — but relatively few have sat down with an estate planning attorney to align that caregiving role with legal authority and a plan to avoid probate.
Join our next seminar : On December 9, the firm is hosting a free Wills, Living Trusts & Asset Protection seminar designed with caregivers in mind. The event will be held at Collins Law Group, 3330 West Manchester Boulevard, Inglewood, CA 90305.
The caregiving job description nobody handed you
The visible work of caregiving is physical and emotional: lifting, driving, comforting, keeping track of medications. The invisible work is legal and financial:
- Who can talk to doctors and hospitals if the person you care for can’t speak for themselves?
- Who has access to bank accounts to pay bills?
- Is there a living trust in place, or will the estate be forced through probate?
- Are there clear instructions about the house — who should receive it, and how?
“Caregivers are often doing everything right in terms of love and time,” says Attorney Collins of Collins Law Group in Inglewood. “But if the legal documents don’t match the reality on the ground, they can still end up in court, fighting over a home they’ve been protecting for years.”
A properly drafted living trust, powers of attorney and health care directives can keep families out of the probate maze, preserve privacy and give caregivers the authority they need to act without constant fear they’re overstepping.
Turning National Family Caregivers Month into a planning month
This year, as National Family Caregivers Month shines a spotlight on unpaid caregivers, Collins Law Group is urging families in Los Angeles and Inglewood to use November not just for appreciation — but for action.
On December 9, the firm is hosting a free Wills, Living Trusts & Asset Protection seminar designed with caregivers in mind. The event will be held at Collins Law Group, 3330 West Manchester Boulevard, Inglewood, CA 90305.
During the seminar, Attorney Collins and her team plan to walk families through:
- How caregiving, incapacity and estate planning intersect
- Why relying only on a will can still lead to probate
- How living trusts can help keep the home in the family and out of the court system
- What documents caregivers should have in hand before a crisis hits
Caregivers like Tanya say that kind of guidance can be a lifeline.
“I don’t need another pamphlet telling me I’m a hero,” she says. “I need someone to help me make sure my mom’s house doesn’t get tangled up in court when she’s gone. That’s the part that keeps me up at night.”
Anyone caring for a parent, spouse, grandparent, or other loved one is invited to attend — along with the person they care for, if possible, and other family members who will one day have to make decisions together. Seats can be reserved by calling (310) 677-9787 or visiting the December 9 registration page.
‘Give yourself the same care you give everyone else’
Caregiver advocates often talk about self-care: rest, counseling, respite services. But legal self-care is just as critical.
“I tell caregivers all the time: the most loving thing you can do for the person you’re caring for is to get the paperwork right,” Collins says. “The second most loving thing is to make sure your own plan is in order, so your kids don’t go through the same stress.”
For families in Inglewood and across Los Angeles, that might mean:
- Updating or creating a living trust that clearly states who inherits the home
- Naming the caregiver — or another trusted person — in durable powers of attorney and health care directives
- Making sure beneficiary designations on life insurance and retirement accounts match the overall plan
None of this erases the daily grind of caregiving. It doesn’t shorten the long nights or the tough decisions about medical care. But it can remove one massive weight: the fear that after years of sacrifice, the home you fought to protect could be tied up in probate, sold to pay fees or divided in ways that shatter family relationships.
As National Family Caregivers Month reminds the country how much caregivers give, families in Inglewood have an opportunity to give something back to themselves: clarity, control and a plan.
For those ready to take that step, the December 9 Wills, Living Trusts & Asset Protection seminar at Collins Law Group, 3330 West Manchester Boulevard, Inglewood, CA 90305, offers a free, low-pressure place to start. Registration is available by phone at (310) 677-9787 or online at the December 9 seminar page
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