What DARVY does, what it does not, and how our fees work.

What DARVY is

DARVY is a Family Transition Readiness service. We organize information, identify what is missing or inconsistent, prepare questions for the appropriate professional, coordinate the people and work around a family transition, and track what needs to happen next.

What DARVY is not

DARVY does not provide legal, tax, investment, medical, or fiduciary advice. We are not a law firm, an estate-planning firm, a financial advisory firm, a care-management company, a tax advisor, or a medical or capacity evaluator. We do not act as trustee, executor, guardian, conservator, agent under a power of attorney, or professional fiduciary. We do not take custody of client funds.

We do not determine legal authority, assess capacity, interpret legal documents conclusively, tell beneficiaries what their legal rights are, or direct fiduciary decisions. Where any of those are required, we identify the question and route it to the appropriate licensed or authorized person.

How our fees work

DARVY fees are fixed or project-based. They are not hourly, not contingent, and not affected by what a family decides to do with a property or any other asset. DARVY does not pay or accept referral fees and does not share fees with attorneys or other licensed professionals.

Real estate

Melanie Aalbers holds an active California real estate license and maintains a separate real estate practice. DARVY is paid fixed or project-based fees. DARVY fees do not depend on whether a property is sold. Brokerage is a separate engagement under a separate agreement. A family is free to use any broker. No DARVY client is required or expected to engage Melanie for brokerage.

Property work

Property may be part of a DARVY Readiness + Coordination engagement. When appropriate, DARVY may scope local support to document a property's current situation, coordinate access, or organize a handoff to an appropriate specialist. DARVY does not act as a property manager, contractor, inspector, estate liquidator, fiduciary, or broker by default; does not supervise repairs by default; does not decide that a property should be sold or which repairs should be authorized; does not decide who receives personal property; does not sign vendor contracts without authorization; does not determine title or ownership conclusively; does not manage tenant disputes or evictions; and does not handle client funds. Local property support is currently available in San Diego, Orange, and San Francisco counties.

Services and fees

DARVY offers three services: the Readiness Assessment ($995 fixed fee), Transition Advisory (typically $1,500–$3,500, project-based depending on scope), and Readiness + Coordination (custom scope). A Readiness Assessment does not obligate a family to purchase anything further. DARVY does not bill hourly and does not publish separate property packages or prices.

Your information

We collect only what an engagement requires, use secure storage for sensitive documents, and limit access by role and documented authorization. Our case records distinguish between what was reported to us, what a document supports, what has been verified, and what remains an open question.

When we stop and escalate

Some situations are outside what any coordination service should handle. We escalate to the appropriate professional, and may decline or pause an engagement, where there is disputed authority, competing fiduciaries, threatened litigation, contested capacity, suspected abuse, exploitation or fraud, or an emergency affecting someone's safety.