BIRMINGHAM ALABAMA. SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA.
Safeguarding you
and your life’s work.
Wills, trusts, probate, elder law and asset protection for San Francisco Bay Area and Birmingham, Alabama families.
Jay Greene
ATTORNEY AT LAW
Practicing since 2008
Licensed in Alabama, California and Florida
Estate planning, probate, elder law and asset protection.
Greene Law Firm, P.C. is an estate planning, probate and asset protection firm with offices in Birmingham, Alabama and San Francisco Bay Area, California. Its attorney, Jay Greene, has practiced since 2008.
WHERE YOU ARE
Pick your state.
Serving Bay Area families
Estate planning, probate, elder law and Medi-Cal, asset protection.
California
Serving Alabama families.
Probate, estate planning, Medicaid planning, asset protection.
Alabama
Coming soon.
Florida
The trust was valid. The deed was never changed.
THE PROBLEM WE WERE BUILT FOR
Plans rarely fail because the documents were wrong. They fail because one asset sat in a state the plan never accounted for — and the family finds out at the worst possible moment.
THE ONE THAT COSTS THE MOST
A house in the other state
Real property is administered by the state where it sits. So a California house inside an Alabama estate opens a second probate case in California — and California computes the fee on the appraised value, not on what is left after the mortgage.
California lets an owner name who takes the house on a recorded transfer-on-death deed in force until 2032. Alabama has no such deed at all. Move from one to the other and the tool the plan relied on simply does not exist any more.
You moved, and the deed stayed behind
A parent two time zones away
A power of attorney on one state’s form is routinely refused by a bank or a care facility in the other, and the refusal arrives on the day it is needed. Health care directives are state-specific too — the form matters as much as the intent.
The executor lives somewhere else
An executor named in a will serve from out of state on the same bond terms as a resident. Not every state does, and some require a resident to be appointed alongside — which is a decision better made while writing the will than after.
Our services
WHAT WE DO
The first line says what the service is; the second says what changes when a state line runs through it. The detail lives on the state page.A will says who inherits. A funded trust keeps the house out of court. Most plans use both.
Wills & Trusts
Probate
Opening the estate, paying what is owed, and putting title into the right names after a death.
Elder Law & Medicaid
An executor named in a will serve from out of state on the same bond terms as a resident. Not every state does, and some require a resident to be appointed alongside — which is a decision better made while writing the will than after.
A layer between what you own and a claim that has not happened yet — for owners, landlords and professionals.
Asset Protection
Power of Attorney
Naming who signs for you at the bank, on the house and in the hospital, before you cannot.
Trustee Services
Acting as trustee when the family would rather not, or cannot agree on who should.
Veterans Benefits
Filing and appealing VA disability and survivor claims, and fitting them into the rest of the plan.
HOW IT WORKS
Four steps, and you know the cost at step two.
Step 1
A short call with a client coordinator. Not a lawyer, and not legal advice — that comes next.
Initial assessment
Step 2
Consultation with Jay
You meet Jay Greene and leave with a plan and a written fee.
Step 3
Drafting and review
Documents by secure upload. A plain-language summary comes before the legal text.
Step 4
Signing and funding
Signed, then funded asset by asset. An unfunded trust is the failure we design against.
STRAIGTH ANSWERS
The multi-state questions.
Short answers, written to stand on their own.
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Generally yes. Laws in some states, recognizes a trust validly created under the law of the state where it was signed. What needs attention after a move is the deed on any new property, and powers of attorney on the new state’s forms.
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Real property is administered by the state where it sits. If a parent lived in one state and owned a house in another, the family opens a second probate case there. Titling that property into a funded revocable trust during life is the usual way to prevent it.
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It depends where the property is. Greene Law Firm is admitted in California and Alabama and works from an office in each. Where the firm cannot act, we say so on the first call and point you to local counsel rather than taking the matter on.
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In most cases, yes. California authorised remote online notarisation in 2023, but the Secretary of State has not yet certified the technology, so it is not available to Californians today. Meetings happen by video; signing is arranged in person at the office or through a travelling notary.
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Future claims you could not foresee — not debts that already exist. A transfer made to defeat a known or likely creditor can be unwound under voidable transaction law. State rules differ sharply, and which state’s law applies turns on where you live, not where the trust is signed.
General information, not legal advice, and not a prediction about any matter. Figures are current as of September 2026 and change. Reading this page does not create an attorney-client relationship.Two ways to start
Call either office, or make a direct appointment based on office location. Tell us what you need and we listen.
ALABAMA
205-746-2465
SAN FRANCISCO