Wills, Trusts & Estate Planning  ·  Malibu, California

When the time comes, your family shouldn't have to guess.

Heritage Malibu helps individuals and families across Malibu and the Conejo Valley put thoughtful estate plans in place — wills, trusts, and the documents that protect your wishes, your assets, and the people who depend on you.

Education
Pepperdine Caruso School of Law — magna cum laude
Licensure
Member, State Bar of California
Serving
Malibu & the Conejo Valley — and clients across California
The Approach

A steady hand for a personal task.

Estate planning is rarely about documents alone. It is about your family, your values, and what you want to be true after you are gone. I take the time to understand the whole picture before drafting a word — then build a plan that does exactly what you intend, explained in plain language you can actually follow.

The measure of a good plan is whether it works on the hardest day your family will face — not the day you sign it.
What That Looks Like

Considered, clear, and built to last.

  • Plans tailored to your family and assets, not a template.
  • Documents written to be understood, not just filed.
  • Coordination with your financial and tax advisors.
  • A relationship that continues as your life changes.
Practice Areas

Where I can help.

A focused estate planning practice, covering the documents and decisions most families need — and the more complex structures some do.

Wills & Living Trusts

Revocable living trusts and pour-over wills that direct your assets, avoid unnecessary probate, and keep your affairs private.

Powers of Attorney & Directives

Financial powers of attorney and advance health care directives, so the right people can act for you if you cannot act for yourself.

Trust Administration & Probate

Guidance for trustees and families through administration and the California probate process, step by step.

Business Succession

Planning for owners who want their business to pass cleanly to the next generation or to partners, on their terms.

Charitable & Legacy Giving

Structures that let you support the causes and community you care about while providing for the people you love.

Plan Reviews & Updates

A second look at an existing plan, and updates as marriages, children, moves, and assets change what your plan needs to do.

The Process

How we'll work together.

A clear path from first conversation to a plan that's signed, sound, and ready — and kept current as your life moves forward.

Step One

Conversation

We start with your family, your assets, and what you want to protect. No jargon, no pressure — just an honest look at where things stand.

Step Two

Design

I map a plan to your circumstances and walk you through the options in plain terms, so the choices are yours and you understand each one.

Step Three

Drafting

I prepare your trust, will, and directives — written carefully to do exactly what you intend, and to hold up when they're relied on.

Step Four

Signing & Funding

We execute everything properly and fund the plan, so it's not just signed — it actually works the way it's meant to.

Step Five

Review

Life changes. I help you keep your plan current as your family, your assets, and the law evolve over time.

A good estate plan is a quiet act of care — the clearest way left to look after the people who come after you.
Heritage Malibu — legacy matters
About

Meet Joel Lopata.

Joel Lopata
Attorney & Founder
Education
Pepperdine Caruso School of Law, J.D., magna cum laude
Admitted
State Bar of California
Background
Hogan Lovells — investigations & white-collar defense
Focus
Wills, trusts, and estate planning

I started Heritage Malibu to do estate planning the way I'd want it done for my own family — patiently, clearly, and with real attention to what matters to you.

My background spans private wealth, securities and compliance, and complex planning for families and business owners. I've spent my career working through the kind of intricate, high-stakes questions that estate planning so often raises — and I bring that same rigor to a single will or a multi-generational trust.

Just as important: I live and work here. I'm raising my family in the same community I serve, and I treat every plan as something I'll stand behind long after the documents are signed.

Start the conversation
Begin

Let's put a plan in place.

Tell me a little about what you're hoping to accomplish, and I'll be in touch to set up an initial consultation.

Location
Malibu & the Conejo Valley, California — by appointment

Please don't include confidential or time-sensitive details in this first message. Sending this form does not create an attorney-client relationship — that's formed only by a signed written agreement.