Practice Areas

Estate Planning

When you hire our firm to help you with your estate planning, we review your financial concerns, taxes, family dynamics, and your desired legacy with you. Then, we draft a comprehensive set of documents, including a revocable living trust, health and financial powers of attorney, and other documents.

Tax Planning

No one likes to pay more taxes than necessary. We work to help you leverage five separate categories of taxes to achieve the best overall tax results and the best family relationships.

Coordination of International Estate Plans

We live and work in the Bay Area. Almost everyone here has a foot in more than one country. To protect assets—both international and local—it is imperative to work with counsel in all of the places where you have assets or family to coordinate your tax and estate planning.

Trust Modification

Revocable trusts may always be changed. However, older irrevocable trusts are often bad fits for current law or current family circumstances. It may be possible to modify these older irrevocable trusts to meet your current needs.

Trust Administration

Trustees have a job to do. Trustees have financial, tax, administrative, and other fiduciary duties. We guide trustees as they administer revocable and irrevocable trusts.

Probate Administration

Probate is a formal court process wherein the court grants an individual the power to administer a decedent’s estate. Probate is necessary in three situations: 1) the decedent has no will or trust; 2) the decedent has a will, but no trust; 3) the decedent left an asset out of their trust.

Real Property

Owning real property is complicated. The upside of ownership is cash flow, return on investment, appreciation, and depreciation deductions. The downside of ownership is management time, increased liability risks, creditors’ claims, and various taxes. We advise those seeking to coordinate their real estate portfolios with comprehensive tax planning and asset protection.

Trust and Probate Litigation

Sometimes disputes arise over even the most carefully drafted estate plans. Disputes can arise within families or businesses. We advise and represent trustees, beneficiaries, and fiduciaries in trust and probate disputes.