Your state’s pack. New issues arrive periodically on Mondays. Bookmark it. I built this for the California T&E solo who knows the California Probate Code cold but still loses an afternoon a week hunting the current homestead number, the Medi-Cal (ALW / HCBA) long-term-care posture, whether the latest State Bar of California ethics guidance changes how you scope an engagement, or whether a recent California Court of Appeal decision just moved the law on capacity, undue influence, or a trustee’s duties. What’s below is what mattered in California lately — the week’s developments and the recent rulings from the bench.
For licensed attorneys. This pack is general legal information and professional commentary for practicing attorneys — it is not legal advice, does not apply to any specific matter, and creates no attorney-client relationship. Verify every authority against the cited primary source before relying on it with a client. Published by Mike Moss, a Utah-admitted attorney, as an AI-enablement information product; it is not an offer of legal services and is not a representation that the author is admitted to practice in your jurisdiction.
Three developments from the last seven days that I think actually matter to a California T&E solo. Each one has a read that lands on your practice specifically — and each one comes with the citation so you can verify the detail yourself before you use it with a client.
Per DHCS, after eliminating the asset test on Jan. 1, 2024, California reinstated the non-MAGI (including long-term-care) Medi-Cal asset limit effective Jan. 1, 2026 at $130,000 per individual, plus $65,000 per additional household member. Transfers made Jan. 1, 2024–Dec. 31, 2025 are not counted at the 2026 renewal (ACWDL 25-18).
For a California solo, this reverses two years of asset-test-free planning and is the change to lead every 2026 Medi-Cal conversation with. The $130,000 limit is back, so spend-down and asset-structuring analysis returns — but the 2024–2025 transfer grace is a genuine planning window: transfers made in that period are not counted at the 2026 renewal. Re-screen every client who planned around the no-asset-test rule.
Cal. DHCS — Asset Limit Changes for Non-MAGI Medi-Cal (eff. Jan. 1, 2026; ACWDL 25-18) · dhcs.ca.gov · asset limit changes
Per the chaptered bill, AB 2016 (effective Jan. 1, 2025) raised the Petition to Determine Succession threshold for a decedent’s primary residence from $184,500 to $750,000 (Cal. Prob. Code §§ 13150–13157); the general small-estate-affidavit threshold indexes to $239,700 for deaths on or after Apr. 1, 2026.
For a California solo, this materially widens the no-full-probate path: a primary residence worth up to $750,000 can now move by petition to determine succession rather than full administration, and the general small-estate-affidavit ceiling has stepped up to $239,700 for 2026 deaths. Re-check your intake triage — matters you would have routed to full probate under the old $184,500 figure may now qualify for the streamlined route.
Cal. AB 2016 (2023–2024 Reg. Sess.), Prob. Code §§ 13150–13157 · leginfo.legislature.ca.gov · AB 2016
Per the State Bar, its “Practical Guidance for the Use of Generative AI in the Practice of Law” was updated (approved May 14, 2026) to address agentic AI, and proposed Rules of Professional Conduct amendments on AI are out for public comment.
For a California solo, this is the current in-state ethics frame for AI-assisted work, and it now reaches agentic tools that take actions on your behalf — not just text generators. Read the updated guidance against your workflow, watch the proposed RPC amendments because they may harden guidance into rule, and keep verification of output and confidentiality of inputs as your baseline regardless of which tool you use.
Cal. State Bar — Practical Guidance for the Use of Generative AI in the Practice of Law (approved May 14, 2026) · calbar.ca.gov · Generative AI guidance
Decisions from the courts that bind a California practitioner — the Supreme Court of California and the California Courts of Appeal, the U.S. District Courts for the Central, Eastern, Northern, and Southern Districts of California, and the Ninth Circuit — read for what actually changes how you draft, advise, and plan. Trusts and estates broadly, not Medicaid alone: wills and capacity, undue influence, fiduciary duty, trust construction, and estate recovery. One read, the holding, and the official cite.
Across the California appellate courts and the federal courts covering California, no qualifying trusts-and-estates or estate-recovery decision has been verified for this period. Per the lane’s no-invent rule, this row says so plainly rather than inflating a holding. The lane reads each opinion before it lands here, and reads-and-discards Medicaid program/provider litigation as not T&E.
Nothing to re-paper from the bench this period; controlling authority is unchanged.
Awaiting verified weekly signal — CourtListener used for discovery only, never cited as authority.
This slot holds the next significant trusts-and-estates or estate-recovery decision from California’s appellate courts or the federal courts covering California. When the trailing window has no new ruling, this row says so plainly rather than inventing one.
[Per-state “what this means today” paragraph lands here once a ruling is populated — otherwise: nothing to re-paper from the bench this period; controlling authority unchanged.]
Official reporter · court · date — never courtlistener.com
This week in California for the T&E solo with Medi-Cal clients: the developments from the State Bar of California, the CLA Trusts and Estates Section, and DHCS (Medi-Cal) that actually moved your practice this period — each one primary-source verified.
Bar and Medicaid changes land on different schedules and aren't indexed by practice focus. Every item here was checked against its primary source, with the link, so you can verify before relying on it.