Estate Planning

We advise individuals and families with both simple estates and complex estates. We advise clients on a variety of personal and estate planning needs, including individual, estate, gift and trust tax planning, wills, powers of attorney, health care directives, revocable family trusts, special needs trusts, life insurance planning and life insurance trusts, charitable giving, guardianship, conservatorship, business succession planning, asset protection, trust administration, probate, trustee obligations, beneficiary interests and special issues and considerations for non-traditional families.

Business Law

We represent closely-held businesses and large companies in a wide range of industries. We advise on business operations, negotiation and documentation of deals and contracts, joint ventures, investments, purchase and sale of assets, financing, manufacturing, licensing, branding, protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights, employer-employee relationships, changes in ownership, business restructuring, corporate governance, entity formation and organizational documents, due diligence, risk assessment and avoidance and resolution of disputes. Our clients include hospitality related businesses, restaurateurs, consumer products manufacturers and distributors and real estate investment groups.

Real Estate Law

We advise individuals, management companies and real estate investment groups in all aspects of commercial and residential real estate matters, including purchase and sale of real estate, operations, property and asset management, commercial, retail and residential leasing, landlord-tenant issues, acquisition, construction and mezzanine financing, corporate and real estate due diligence, renovation and construction, architectural and structural engineering matters, cell sites and leases, § 1031 like-kind exchanges, eminent domain, condemnation, zoning and property tax matters.

CA, Dec 2001
Bar Number: 217597

California State Courts
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

Active member of the Junior League of Los Angeles since 2001, currently Chair of the Historian Committee, 2010-2012. Formerly involved with Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles chapter of Association for Corporate Growth, Step Up Women's Network and other organizations.

I regularly attend continuing legal education programs on topics such as corporate and partnership taxation, structuring business transactions, individual, estate, gift and trust tax planning, intellectual property and family law.

Collaborator in translation from English to Spanish of amici curiae brief in support of Petitioners filed in July 2009 with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in the matter of Campo Algodonero: Cases 12.496, 12.497, 12.498 v. The United Mexican States. (Landmark ruling issued against the government of México, December 2009).

Estate Planning:
We advised an unmarried couple with young children on special issues and considerations for non-traditional families and customized "essential estate plan" including wills, powers of attorney, health care directives and revocable trusts for each.

We prepared complex estate plans for various members of multigenerational family client, including wills, powers of attorney, health care directives, marital deduction planning in revocable trusts and life insurance planning in irrevocable life insurance trusts. Oversaw subsequent transfer of assets, funding and administration of trusts.

We represented client/beneficiary in multi-year administration of complex grandparents' trust, involving bitter family disputes, acquisition by client of another beneficiary's interests in assets used by client in unrelated business operations, and property tax reassessment exclusions for transfers of real estate from grandparent to grandchild.

We advised clients on establishing conservatorship for incapacitated loved ones, subsequent care of cnservatee's physical person and administration of conservatees' financial estate while acting as conservator.

We advised clients on family wealth preservation and asset protection planning, including private placement life insurance.

We advised clients on use of life insurance in business succession planning for closely-held business and joint venture partnerships.

We prepared an estate plan for single individual client; including a third-party special needs trust for client's sibling.

Business Law:
We represented a consumer products manufacturer client in licensing transaction with a well known international personal care brand for the development, manufacturing and global distribution of new products to complement brand's existing product line.

We are outside counsel to hospitality client with multinational operations and several hotel properties in Los Angeles, advising on acquisition and renovation of properties, mortgage financing, high-end retail leasing, licensing, employer-employee matters, guest relations, unlawful detainer, eminent domain and ADA compliance.

We represent individual clients in entity formation and negotiation of joint ventures for new business lines and special projects.

We represent clients in the fashion industry in protecting and enforcing intellectual property rights and claims of trademark and copyright infringement.

Real Estate:
We represent real estate investment groups in purchase, sale and financing of commercial real estate, § 1031 like-kind exchange and subsequent renovation and leasing of medical tower and office space.

We represented a landlord client in an unlawful detainer action with hostile tenants threatening the physical safety of landlord and landlord's family, and petitions for restraining orders.

We represented client in contentious reorganization of joint venture property owner entity and buy-out of joint venture members.

We served as outside counsel to a hospitality client with multinational operations and several hotel properties in Los Angeles, advising on acquisition and renovation of properties, mortgage financing, high-end retail leasing, licensing, employer-employee matters, guest relations, unlawful detainer, eminent domain and ADA compliance.

2

California

Tepper & Associates is a small law firm located in the heart of Beverly Hills, California. We provide high quality cost effective legal services to individuals, families, closely-held businesses and large companies across a number of industries, including general business operations, real estate transactions, estate planning, family wealth preservation, and dealing with the disputes and challenges that come up in everyday life.

Tepper & Associates was established in April 1991 by Foster Tepper, who was admitted to the State Bar of California in June 1962. Prior to establishing Tepper & Associates, Foster was a partner in the national law firm Shea & Gould.

Many of the firm's clients have been with Foster for years, including a large multigenerational family with multiple business lines and personal interests and a hospitality group with multinational operations and several hotel properties in Los Angeles.

I began my legal career as a tax attorney in KPMG LLP's international corporate tax practice, where I advised on structuring multinational transactions and business operations for a variety of institutional clients, and later with Wealth & Tax Advisory Services, Inc., a subsidiary of HSBC Bank, advising high net worth clients on estate, gift and trust tax planning and compliance. I subsequently represented clients in corporate, entertainment and real estate transactions and high net worth individuals in their personal and business affairs. Immediately prior to joining Tepper & Associates in 2009, I was in the Real Estate Group at Duval & Stachenfeld LLP, focused on private equity joint venture investments in real estate and complex commercial real estate transactions, financing and business operations.

I've also been an Attorney Volunteer and Pro Bono Translator at the Harriett Buhai Center for Family Law since May 2006, where I work with monolingual Spanish speaking clients to prepare documents and court filings in English so they can represent themselves in court in family law matters ranging from dissolution of marriage, paternity, domestic violence, custody, visitation, child and spousal support.

Recipient of the State Bar of California's Wiley W. Manuel Award for voluntary provision of legal services to the poor in March 2010 and February 2011 for work as an Attorney Volunteer and Pro Bono Translator at the Harriett Buhai Center for Family Law.

Our office manager is Lupe Gonzalez.

(310) 859-9751

Our office staff is generally in the office Monday through Friday between 8:30 a..m and 5:00 p.m. Attorneys do not have set hours but are usually in the office between 9:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.

Yes

I am a bilingual native Spanish speaker. My volunteer work with monolingual Spanish speakers helps me keep my technical legal Spanish sharp.

Tepper & Associates has flexible pricing arrangements ranging from preset flat fees for limited engagements like our "Essential Estate Planning Package", negotiated flat fees and ongoing representation at hourly rates. We offer a 10% discount if you mention Nolo at your initial consultation.

For matters priced at hourly rates, my billing rate is $300 per hour.

We offer a free consultation for all new clients and matters.

We request that new clients sign an engagement letter and provide a retainer before we can represent them or provide any legal advice. The size of the retainer is reasonably determined based on the nature of the work and the scope of the engagement.