Wills, Trusts & Estates

I provide a complete range of estate planning and probate services. I work with clients to create and implement an estate plan specifically designed with them in mind, including their family, their business, their property and their personal wishes. This includes preparation of Durable Powers of Attorney for Health Care and Durable Powers of Attorney for Asset Management.

• Nolo Document Review

• Estate Taxes & Gift Taxes
• Power of Attorney

• Charitable Giving
• Charitable Trusts
• Drafting Trusts
• Drafting Wills
• Estate Administration
• Estate Planning
• Living Trusts
• Living Wills
• Probate
• Asset Protection
• Guardianship
• Power of Attorney
• Business Succession Planning
• Special Needs Trust
• Supplemental Needs Trust
• Revocable Trust & Irrevocable Trust

Family Law

I have nearly 30 years of experience in family law. Besides being a highly trained, experienced and knowledgeable family lawyer, I am personally and professionally sensitive to the concerns of my clients and their children during the period of transition.

I assist individuals and families in formation, with adoptions, establishment of parentage, guardianships, conservatorships, special needs trusts for the disabled, pre-marital, marital and life-partner agreements, asset protection and wealth preservation.

• Mediation/Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)
• Name Changes
• Restraining Orders
• Enforcement Actions

• Elder Abuse

• Adoptions
• Child Support
• Children's Rights
• Custody
• Foster Care
• Paternity
• State Child Protection
• Visitation

• Civil Unions
• Common Law Marriage
• Domestic Partnerships
• Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transsexual, Transgender Rights
• Living Together/Cohabitation
• Marriage
• Power of Attorney
• Prenuptial & Postnuptial Agreements

• Age Discrimination
• Competency Hearings
• Guardianships & Conservatorships
• Long-Term Care
• Nursing Homes
• Powers of Attorney
• Medicaid & Medicare Planning
• Advanced Health Care Directive
• Healthcare Power of Attorney
• Healthcare Proxy
• Tax Planning
• Nursing Home Negligence

• Grandparent Rights
• Termination of Parental Rights

CA, Feb 1979
Bar Number: 85004

Licensed to practice in all courts of the State of California, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

State Bar of California, Family Law Section and Trusts & Estates Section, Butte County Bar Association and National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys.

I attend continuing legal education seminars on the topics of Estate Planning, Wills, Trusts and Probate and Family Law. I always exceed the required amount of continuing education hours.

a. Article -- Selected Topics on Enforcement, QDROs, California Child Support Attorney College, CSDA/DCSS, April/May 2008, Monterey, California.

b. Article - Estate Planning, Getting it Right, Today's Senior Magazine, Northern California, print and e-zine, December 2008 issue.

In probate, a case of simultaneous death of husband and wife, both intestate, both in second marriage, both with separate property as well as community property - represented administrator of husband's estate - settled case with wife's estate, and vice versa, based on persuasive legal research and writing regarding the interplay of family law and probate law as applied to the particular circumstances of this dual-probate case.

In children's rights, a parentage case in which both possible fathers of the child opposed a finding of paternity - through permissive joinder and persuasive legal research and writing, focused on the child's constitutional rights, and enforced genetic testing over right-of-privacy and other objections, resulting in favorable determination of paternity consistent with the child's rights.

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California

I represent individuals, families, and small business owners throughout Northern California in all aspects of estate planning, business planning, life care planning, wealth preservation, asset protection, and family law. My primary purpose is to provide each of my clients with the information and resources they need to be successful with their estate plans and family transitions. I am a knowledgeable estate planning and family lawyer who understands the value of establishing long-term relationships of trust and confidence with my clients.

Family Law Category:

Divorce, and Dissolution of Non-Marital Relationships:
In cases of divorce, or dissolution of a domestic partnership or other non-marital relationship, we anticipate spouses or partners will commit to resolution of their differences by means of mediation or the collaborative law process. California law authorizes both mediation and collaborative practice in family law cases.

Except in enforcement-of-judgment cases, or unusual circumstances about which the prospective client is invited to inquire in a free consultation, I do not take divorce or partnership dissolution cases in which the parties are not prepared to make this commitment.

Consumer-friendly books and articles about mediation and collaborative law are available on the Nolo Press website at www.nolo.com

Family Formation:
Families may be formed by statutory means, as in the case of marriage or registered domestic partnership, or by informal means, such as written or unwritten agreements to live together and do such things as acquire property together and raise children together. In any type of family formation, the parties may adopt children or assume guardianship of children.
In the case of unmarried life-partners in either a statutory or informal long-term partnership, it is very important that both persons have powers of attorney for health care and financial management, and HIPAA waivers, to prevent a life-partner from being shut out by the others family in case the other becomes seriously ill or incapacitated. Needless to say, unmarried life-partners should also be careful to do their estate planning as close to the beginning of their relationship as possible, so their beneficial intentions are not thwarted by the laws of intestacy.

Elder Law:
I have many years of experience in elder law matters, and I am a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. My practice includes Medicaid and Medicare planning, Advanced Health Care Directives and Powers of Attorney, asset protection, conservatorships, life care planning, and tax planning.

Other Family Law Matters:
Other kinds of family law cases and concerns are also listed on the opening page, under the tab, "Types of Cases." I offer counsel and representation in all such matters.

Wills, Trusts & Estates Category:
I handle my clients' living trusts, wills, probate administration, trust administration, and advanced estate planning matters with diligence and care, based on 29 years of experience as an Attorney and Counselor at Law in California.

I also help small businesses with business and tax planning, and coordination of business strategies with long-term plans for business management succession, family legacies and charitable giving, as well as asset protection and wealth preservation.

Specific estate planning cases and concerns are listed on the opening page, under the tab, "Types of Cases." I offer counsel, document preparation and representation in all such matters.

I have 29 years of experience as an Attorney and Counselor at Law in California. I brought my expertise, experience and practice to the Town of Paradise, in Butte County, in the summer of 2008, after retirement from government practice.

I was in private practice in the San Francisco Bay Area from 1979 through 2002, after which I was the Senior Child Support Attorney for Lassen County from the end of 2002 through April of 2008. After retiring from that position, I brought my expertise, experience and practice to the Town of Paradise, in Butte County, California.

Judge Pro Tem for Solano County Municipal and Superior Courts; Volunteer, Free Legal Advice for Seniors, Senior Centers in Fairfield, California, and Paradise, California; Volunteer, Mare Island Naval Station and Travis Air Force Base, AARP Retirement Seminars, Transition Assistance for Military Retirees; Board of Directors, Solano County Child Assault Prevention Council; Chairperson, Solano County Bar Association Estate Planning Committee; Education Forum Speakers Bureau, Estate Planning; Paradise Ridge Chamber of Commerce Ambassador; Paradise Rotary.

(530) 872-7175

Monday through Friday
9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
House calls, hospital and hospice calls, and care facility calls, by appointment.

Yes

We do have fixed-price services in most estate planning cases. Initial consultations are free. The client provides a completed subject-matter questionnaire in advance of the consultation, so that the consultation can focus on determining the client's estate planning needs. Once the client's needs are determined, a fixed fee is quoted, and it is up to the client whether to proceed.

Nolo Document Review Participants must provide the same completed subject-matter questionnaire that all clients are required to provide in advance of the consultation, along with copies of the documents that are to be reviewed. That way, the adequacy of the Nolo documents can be considered in light of the client's actual circumstances. This is important, because an estate plan cannot be evaluated apart from the personal and financial facts and circumstances that it must address.

For attorney services provided on an hourly rate basis, the rate is generally $250 to $350 per hour, depending on the circumstances of the particular case. Fees for other professionals, who may be involved in the matter, if any, are determined by them.

The initial consultation is free. It is generally from one-half to one hour in duration. The client provides a completed subject-matter questionnaire in advance of the consultation, so that the consultation can focus on determining the client's needs.

There is generally a retainer. In fixed fee matters, it is usually one-half of the quoted fee, plus any expected costs. In hourly billing matters, it is usually one-half of the anticipated total fee, plus any expected costs. All fee arrangements are set forth in a written fee agreement before services are commenced.