Estate Planning

The client is the boss. Dr. Oppenheim is there to help educate family members about the alternatives available to maximize family wealth and asset protection. She assists families in Medicaid planning, the formation, operation, and dissolution of estate plans, trusts, wills, durable powers of attorney for financial management, durable powers of attorney for healthcare and advance directives. She creates trusts that clients can operate independently, and/or with her or other professionals' assistance to achieve peace of mind throughout their adulthood and often on behalf of subsequent generations, For blended families, we take special care to craft customized plans that prevent family strife.

HI, Oct 1986
Bar Number: 4282

• Admitted to Practice U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, 1991-Present
• Admitted to Practice U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit, 1993-Present
• Admitted to Practice U.S. Supreme Court, 1996-Present

• Member of the Hawaii State Bar, 1986-Present
• Member of the Texas State Bar, 1993-Present
• Member, Land Trust Alliance 2005-Present
• SCORE small business counselor 2009-Present
• Licensed Notary State of Hawaii 2008-Present

Dr. Oppenheim is a lifelong student and problem solver. She researches extensively and publishes about business law, real property law, estate planning, non-profit law, and negotiation. She attends continuing legal education seminars regularly as both a speaker and a participant.

Oppenheim, N. (2003). The mysterious mammogram merry go round. Annual Advances in Case Research.
Oppenheim, N. (2002). Exams that promote learning. 44th Mountain Plains Management Conference Proceedings, 90-103.
Oppenheim, N. (accepted 1-10-02) Reliability study of the Academy of Legal Studies in Business' standardized exam. Journal of Legal Studies in Education, 20, 2.
Oppenheim, N. (2002) International Teaching Assistants: When it works and when it doesn't. In K. Lewis (Ed.) 1997 TA Conference Proceedings (110-122) Stillwater: OK, New Forums Press.
Oppenheim, N. (2001) Privatizing conservation: Conservation easements: Environment & Business Forum, 7, 1 (1-17).
Oppenheim, N. (2000). Editor. Academy of Legal Studies in Business Master Teacher Symposium Proceedings 2000. Baltimore, Maryland, Academy of Legal Studies in Business.
Oppenheim, N. (2000) Conservation easement grantors: Doing good and doing well. Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Economics, Fall 2000, 175-190.
Oppenheim, N. (2000). The importance of recurrent sequences for fluency and cognition. In H. Riggenbach (Ed.) Perspectives in Fluency (pp. 220-240). Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press.
Oppenheim, N. (2000) Contract know-how. Econometer, 10,1, 3-4.
Oppenheim, N. (1999). Cognitive bridges: Law courses structured for application and knowledge transfer. Journal of Legal Studies in Education,17,1, 17-56.
Oppenheim, N. (1998). Undergraduate learning: A student mediation model. In J. Smith (Ed.) Changing Graduate Education (pp. 24-39). New York, New Forums Press.
Oppenheim, N. (1998). Undergraduate assessment of faculty's communicative competence. ERIC Clearinghouse on Higher Education Washington DC: ERIC. ED423783, HE 031631 3-18.
Oppenheim, N. (1998). How international teaching assistant programs can prevent lawsuits. The Journal of Graduate Assistant Development, 15, 90-110.
Oppenheim, N. (1997). Undergraduates learning from international faculty. Research in Higher Education 52, 1122-1132.
Oppenheim, N. (1997). The importance of recurrent sequences for nonnative speaker fluency. In H. Riggenbach (Ed.) Perspectives on Fluency (pp. 330-361). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Oppenheim, N. (1997). International teaching assistant programs: Law informing policy. In L. Border (Ed.) Preparing the Professorate for the 21st Century (111-119). New York: Farmdale Press.
Oppenheim, N. (1996). Undergraduates learning from nonnative English-speaking teaching assistants. ERIC Clearinghouse on Higher Education. Washington DC: ERIC ED 394 418.
Oppenheim, N. and Kozuh, G. (1996). Intercultural Know-How. Austin Texas: Center for Teaching Effectiveness.
Oppenheim, N. (1995). The cognitive processes underlying nonnative speaker fluency. ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics. Washington DC: ERIC ED 386 953.
Oppenheim, N. (1992). Communication difficulties of nonnative speakers of English in the immigration law setting. American Immigration Lawyers Association Bulletin, 4 (222-242).

Fixed-Fee Estate Planning Packages designed to avoid probate, guardianships, and facilitate asset management and transfer of assets. Packages include living revocable trust, abstract of trust, pour-over will, durable power of attorney for financial management, durable power of attorney for healthcare and advance directive.

Settled the estate of a young international entrepreneur with corporations, limited liability companies throughout the U.S., and abroad to afford his widow a secure future. Provided full trust management services to maintain a widely diversified investment portfolio with above averages returns since the inception of the trust.

Drafted Irrevocable Trust to avoid impoverishing the non- institutionalized spouse and maintain eligibility for Medicaid for the spouse with Alzheimer's.

Named grandparents as guardian in the mother's will in an effort to avoid having the incarcerated father from becoming the child's guardian in the event of the death of the mother.

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Hawaii and Texas.

Dr. Oppenheim has practiced and taught law in Hawaii, Texas, and Colorado since 1986. She opened her practice in 1986 and established offices on the Big Island and Oahu. In addition to her private law practice, Dr. Oppenheim has practiced for Chief Justice Burns, Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals, Carlsmith, Wichman, Case, Mukai & Ichiki, and the Legal Aid Society of Hawaii.

At the same time, as a tenured business law professor, she demonstrated advanced research skills, published prodigiously, and taught award-winning courses to graduate and undergraduate students.

For over 25 years, by combining her active law practice with her academic skills, Dr. Oppenheim's firm has provided the highest quality legal services and problem solving in a timely and helpful manner at reasonable rates.

The focus of Dr. Oppenheim's firm is to educate her clients so they can make informed decisions about the best way to organize their estate, business, or non-profit's affairs.

She works closely with each client to make sure that all parties benefit from careful planning. She employs a positive-sum game perspective, using creative solutions to create unimagined benefits. She works successfully with multiple constituents to manage change and plan proactively to minimize risks.

Dr. Oppenheim has practiced and taught law in Hawaii, Texas, and Colorado since 1986. She opened her practice in 1986 and established offices on the Big Island and Oahu. In addition to her private law practice, Dr. Oppenheim has practiced for Chief Justice Burns, Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals, Carlsmith, Wichman, Case, Mukai & Ichiki, and the Legal Aid Society of Hawaii.

Dr. Oppenheim was awarded the McGraw Hill Business Law Professor of the Year in 2000, the Hoeber Award for Outstanding Legal Studies Article in 2003, and the Outstanding Environmental Law Article for 2001 by the Academy of Legal Studies in Business.

Because of Dr. Oppenheim's expertise in Conservation Easement Law, she was hired to work closely with the Nature Conservancy, other Hawaii land trusts, ranchers, and landowners to pass legislation creating a Hawaii Conservation Tax Credit. The bill that she authored authorized state tax credits for landowners who donated their development rights in perpetuity, or adopted a legally binding conservation plan for their land.

She worked with the Dept. of Land and Natural Resources, Dept. of Agriculture, and the Dept. of Taxation to get the bill passed by both houses of the Hawaii legislature. Because of budget constraints, Governor Lingle vetoed the bill.

(808) 443-0312

At your convenience. After work, evening, and weekend appointments are available. We make house calls. Notary services available 24/7.

Yes

French and Spanish.

Clients have the option to choose to retain us on a fixed fee basis, an hourly rate basis, or a combination of both.
Examples of Fixed Fees for 2010: Standard Estate Planning Package: living revocable trust, abstract of trust, pour-over will, durable power of attorney for financial management, durable power of attorney for healthcare and advance directive ($1900 for individual, $2900 for couples); Single Member Limited Liability Company Formation ($490); Non-Profit 501(c)(3) incorporation and IRS application ($4,900).

$250 an hour.

We offer a free initial consultation that usually lasts for about an hour. After Dr. Oppenheim has determined the alternatives that can achieve the client's preferred outcomes, she sends the client a written retainer agreement outlining the fees and costs associated with the necessary work. When the client returns the signed retainer agreement with the retainer check, she works diligently to complete the work in a timely and helpful fashion.

Our firm always collects a retainer that is equivalent to the value of fees and costs to be expended on the client's behalf for the month. A retainer is similar to a security deposit on an apartment rental. When all services have been completed, any unearned portion of the retainer is returned to the client. In the interim, the client is billed monthly and pays for the services provided by counsel and costs incurred to replenish the retainer. Our retainer policy insures that we can offer affordable fees to our clients.