Karen J. Chilina

Karen Chilina is an attorney for and shareholder of Chilina Law Firm, focusing on estate planning, trust administration, and real property matters. Karen’s estate planning practice is a boutique type practice in that she focuses on each individual client, creating a custom estate plan that matches that particular client’s goals and needs.

Karen’s trust administration practices focuses on working with non-professional trustees to limit or eliminate liability during trust administration along with efficiently managing and ultimately distributing trust assets.

Karen’s real property practice consists of working with individual land owners in the various issues of land ownership such as easements, boundary lines and lot line adjustments, water rights, property transfers, and other land use issues.

Karen earned her Juris Doctorate from Concord Law School in Los Angeles, California, graduating with highest honors. Karen earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminology from Southern Oregon University in Ashland, Oregon in March 1999 and later earned a Paralegal Certificate from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California. Karen is enthusiastic about the law and enjoys helping her clients through their legal matters by providing high quality legal services and maintaining and encouraging open communication. Prior to her admission to the State Bar of California and joining Chilina Law Firm, Karen owned and operated Chilina Paralegal Services, a contract paralegal business providing litigation, research, and transactional support to local civil law, administrative law, and criminal law attorneys. Karen also worked as a paralegal for a prominent Central Coast law firm before opening Chilina Paralegal Services. This experience gives Karen an adept knowledge of California law and motion and procedure.

Prior to her work as a paralegal, Karen worked in the commercial real estate industry, both in office management and appraisal. Karen enjoys working with local non-profit organizations providing pro bono legal services and serves on the Board of Directors for the Boys & Girls Club of North San Luis Obispo County. Karen and her family live in Atascadero, California where she enjoys hiking, mountain biking, swimming, reading, baking, and spending time in the outdoors with her husband and son.