RICHARD D. SILVESTER, J.D., LL.M. 

Attorney at Law

Certified Specialist, Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law,

California State Bar Board of Legal Specialization

Address:               877 YGNACIO VALLEY ROAD, SUITE 220

                           WALNUT CREEK, CALIFORNIA 94596 

Phone:                  (925) 935-5525

Toll-free:               (888) 545-6792

 

Welcome!

Thank you for finding my website! I hope you arrived here because you want to learn more about living trusts, estate planning in general, and/or about my law practice. These few pages will include an introduction to me and to various elements of estate planning, probate, and trust and estate administration. I will try to restrain my attorney's instincts to drone on and on about the subject at hand. Whether or not you need legal services in the estate planning or administration area, I would appreciate your feedback on the Contact Us page.

Estate Planning

A major part of my law practice involves estate planning, particularly with living trusts. I will not be able to explain everything there is to know about these subjects on this website. I think that is one of the reasons why lawyers exist, to explain this sort of thing in person to those who want to know. I invite you to give me a telephone call or contact me by email, and I will be happy to arrange for a no-cost personal (or telephone) estate planning consultation with you during which we can discuss these topics as much (or as little) as you would like.

I invite your attention to the Articles page of this website for additional information on some of these subjects. By way of an overly brief explanation, however, estate planning involves the type of planning that you do to make sure that your "estate," which means all of your assets, can be turned over to the persons you have selected with a minimum of fuss, bother and expense. The "fuss and bother" part refers to what happens if you do not actively participate in the planning or if the planning is poorly done, either of which means that your estate has to go through the probate court process. This is usually a bad thing. In California, for example, the average length of time for a probate case is more than a year. This is the amount of time that your heirs must wait before they can receive their inheritance, even if there are no complications.

The "expense" part refers to probate fees and possibly even estate taxes. Contrary to popular belief, probate costs do not take half of the estate, but they can be significant. For example, California law provides that the combined fees of the attorney and the executor in an $800,000 estate can amount to $38,000, a significant amount. I will not attempt on this page to explain all there is to know about estate taxes, but be aware that despite the significant publicity involving the "repeal" of the federal estate tax law a few years ago, the estate tax laws are still on the books, and tax planning is still needed in some estates.

Living Trusts - Maybe a Panacea?

A critical tool in dealing with these issues is a living trust. The basic idea behind a trust is that a legal structure is created (the trust) that is not affected by the death or incapacity of the person creating it (the settlor/grantor/trustor). After the legal documents establishing the trust are created by the attorney, the settlor's assets are transferred to the trust. For example, the attorney would usually prepare a deed conveying legal title of the client's residence to the client, as trustee of his or her own trust. Then, after the client's death, a successor trustee, nominated in advance by the client, would have the legal authority to transfer real property, bank accounts, investments and other assets to the client's heirs, following instructions in the trust instrument.

The successor trustee would be able to take control of the trust assets in much the same way that a newly installed president of a corporation takes control of a corporation. No court order is required. A bank (or stockbroker or title company) dealing with trust assets would simply require evidence of what happened to their original customer (e.g., a death certificate), proof that the person they are talking to is the designated successor trustee (e.g., a copy of the appropriate section of the trust agreement naming the successor) and, presumably, proof that the person to whom they are talking is, indeed, the person named as successor trustee (e.g.., a drivers license). At that point, the successor trustee's name would be added to the signature card (of the bank) or otherwise treated as a person authorized to deal with the trust assets.

Me and My Law Practice.

It may be helpful to know a little about me and the way I work. I actually have quite a small law firm, consisting mainly of myself. Unlike some attorneys who, apparently, think they need to give the impression that they are a large firm, I want you to know that I am not. Not only is there only one attorney (me), my law practice has, over the years, evolved to the point that I presently have only a single paralegal and no other full-time administrative staff. This situation has its good points and its bad points. On the bad side, if I had several dozen new clients calling me every day, I would not have the staff to handle the work. This has not, so far, been a major problem. On the good side, I personally gather information from my clients and draft every part of each legal document produced for my clients. This intensely close contact with my clients and the documents created for them enhances my ability to explain things and, if needed, implement revisions in the documents.

My Office

My office is located in Walnut Creek, California, an East Bay suburb of San Francisco, in Contra Costa County. It is easy to find and is not much more than an hour's drive from most Bay Area locations. I also have access to offices in San Jose and San Francisco in case it is inconvenient for a client to travel to Walnut Creek.

My Experience and Education

I am starting to be nervous about calculating these numbers, but I must admit that I have been practicing law now for more than 35 years. In my early career, I served four years as an Honors Program Trial Attorney in the Tax Division of the U. S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., and then worked as a tax and pension attorney in the Law Department of Southern Pacific Transportation Company in San Francisco. I also spent several years as a part time faculty member at the Golden Gate University Graduate School of Taxation in San Francisco. Since 1979, I have worked in my own law firm in Contra Costa County, California, originally in Concord and now in Walnut Creek.

I am a member of the California State Bar, and have been certified as a Legal Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law by the California State Bar Board of Legal Specialization. I was also admitted to practice law in Utah and in various federal courts.

I grew up in Idaho, and completed my undergraduate studies at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. I received my law degree (Juris Doctor) in 1971 from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. While working in Washington, D.C., I took post-doctoral courses in taxation and estate planning at George Washington University and Georgetown University, and obtained a Master of Laws (Taxation) degree from the George Washington University Law School in 1975.

Service

I try very hard to provide the type of service to my clients that I would want if our roles were reversed. As a self-employed person, I can be flexible with my schedule and can usually arrange evening and Saturday appointments. I have also been known to make house calls and hospital visits to clients who may have difficulty getting around. On a few occasions, I have completed an estate planning project for a client strictly by mail and telephone, although I prefer holding at least one face-to-face discussion. Since I am currently licensed to practice law actively only in California, I must regretfully discourage non-California clients.

So, if you are looking for a large, complicated law firm in a high-rise building, I would be happy to refer you to some of my colleagues. If you are looking for personalized, courteous and responsive professional service, I am pretty sure I can provide that for you. Please give me a call.