Ms. Janet L. Brewer, LLM-Tax, MBA, JD

I hope affluent Bay Area families and foreign nationals with substantial U.S. assets choose me for their estate planning. At the same time, I want you to choose me for the right reasons! It actually makes my job easier and more rewarding - because it leads to better client relationships. With that in mind, I've put out a new guide called Choosing Your Bay Area Estate Planning Attorney. You can download it free at website, at www.calprobate.com/choosing. It's hard enough for most people to think about estate planning in the first place. They may not know the best way to make sure their goals are met, and they certainly don't know all the legal work involved in making sure their wishes are carried out when they are no longer around to supervise. That's the whole point of hiring an estate planning attorney! But I want to be the navigation system, not the driver. I want them to be comfortable with their decisions, rather than having me tell them what they should want. Each client is unique. It takes the collaboration of my expertise and their goals. When I sit down with prospective clients, I want them to understand that when estates are valued in the millions of dollars, good planning takes more than filling in the blanks on a stack of one-size-fits-all forms. So my first bit of advice is, get the guide. It explains what kind of work goes into a solid estate plan, and the kind of training and experience a good estate-planning attorney needs to do it well. The guide even has a checklist to go down when talking to prospective attorneys. Here's something else you'll find in the guide: My fees. A lot of attorneys get very shy when it comes to discussing money. I don't see the point. I can't offer to do the job for everyone for the same flat fee, but the guide gives a range of what to expect for the typical kinds of estate planning services I perform. (Certified Specialist, Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law, The State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization)