Estate Planning

I work best with clients who want to understand what they are doing when they create an estate plan. My clients are pleased with my ability to make complex and abstract principles simple enough for them to understand and to feel confident in what they are doing. My clients meet directly with me -- I am not finished until I know they understand what they are doing. I find many families put off estate planning because they can't agree on what to do. The skills I have learned doing over 2,000 divorce mediations are sometimes very helpful for parties with multiple families.

CA, Jan 1967
Bar Number: 39869

Certified Family Law Specialist (by the California State Bar Board of Legal Specialization).

• Supreme Court of the State of California
• Admitted to practice in the California Federal Southern, Central and Northern District Courts

Member, State Bar of California.

I fulfill the continuing legal education requirements of the California State Bar as well as the annual continuing legal education requirements for a Certified Family Law Specialist.

In one protracted trust litigation, I represented a beneficiary who was excluded from the estate by an angry daughter. I was successful at the trial level, and also prevailed in the appeal regarding federal taxation issues. My client ended up with the house she was promised when for a long time it looked like she was getting nothing.

In another matter I drafted a trust that was objected to by the decedent's son. Other counsel did the trial and lost. I appealed and the trial court was reversed. The Appellate Court stated in its decision: "In concluding that the finding of undue influence was not supported by the evidence, we note that the testator's attorney, Steven Small, handled the matter in an entirely professional manner." Since Appellate Courts seldom mention attorney's names, I have always been proud of this recognition.

I have been a Certified Family Law Specialist since 1984. There are approximately 1,000 lawyers who are Certified Family Law Specialists out of approximately 120,000 practicing lawyers in California. For more information on what a Certified Specialist means, follow this link: http://ls.calbar.ca.gov/.

1

California

My focus is to meet or exceed each client's expectations in a manner that also keeps fees reasonable. I want to leave each client with the feeling they have been treated in a professional, but human manner. In the 43 years I have practiced law I have acquired the skills needed to help clients make the decisions required to resolve their seemingly uncharted and confusing problems. I believe in completing my work sooner rather than later; for example, the typical trust usually takes two weeks from the intake to signing the final documents and the typical marriage dissolution mediation takes three to four weeks to complete.

When I started practicing law in 1967, I did mostly commercial litigation, but I never felt really comfortable or satisfied. In 1977, I volunteered at the Los Angeles Free Clinic and discovered that I was a better counselor than a litigator. In 1980, after I moved to Alameda, my wife and I opened the Alameda Evening Law Clinic in a storefront 7.5 feet wide. I moved to my present office in 1994. When you come in the office, I am the first person you meet.

I have practiced law as a sole practitioner since I was admitted to the California State Bar in 1967.

I have volunteered as a mediator in the Family Law Department of the Alameda Superior Court for two years, 1996 to 1998.

Kimberly Olwin-Zhao.

(510) 217-6220

Monday through Friday
10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.

Yes

Most of the estate planning work I do is on a fixed price basis. The average trust, including a Pour Over Will and Durable Powers of Attorney, requires three hours of attorney time at $350 per hour. I charge $125 to prepare and record a deed transferring your home into the trust. The average trust with one house costs $1,175.

I charge $350 per hour.

I do not offer free initial consultations. If your matter warrants it and it there is a prior agreement, I have been known to waive fees for the initial consultation.

I usually get paid for my work at the conclusion of my services. For litigation matters, my retainer is usually $2,500.