About Ravi Patel

My name is Ravi Patel and I am trust litigation attorney based in Oakland, California. I have experience filing Heggstad Petitions throughout the state.

After I graduated from Duke University School of Law, I joined a general practice law firm in my hometown, Bakersfield, California. I worked on various transactional and litigation matters and gained a broad breadth of experience in legal areas including water law, public agency law, property taxes, local taxes, real estate law, and land use law. In 2019, my partner and I relocated to Oakland, California, where I worked for the Oakland City Attorney’s office. As a Deputy City Attorney, I helped the City of Oakland prepare tax policy and pursue tax debts.

I started this practice in 2020. I provide trust litigation services to trustees and beneficiaries looking to claim trust property, remove trustees, or amend, interpret, or enforce trust provisions.

My practice focuses in particular on filing Heggstad Petitions throughout California. Heggstad Petitions are a specialized form of trust petition that allows a trustee to claim property that was accidentally left out of trust, in lieu of going through a probate. Most commonly, Heggstad Petitions are used by successor trustees to confirm the deceased original trustee's home as a trust asset. In that case, the original trustee may have forgotten or neglected to record a deed retitling their home as a trust asset after they executed their trust. Without a court order, the house would have to go through probate, a long and expensive process. But, so long as the trust lists the home as a trust asset, a court can confirm the home as a trust asset for legal purposes. Heggstad Petitions save successor trustees considerable time and money and can be used for homes, accounts, cars, and all kinds of property.

I also have experience with various state and local tax matters, in particular, local business taxes and apportionment issues.