Estate planning, trust administration, probate and tax law
Estate planning, trust administration, probate and tax law
Diane has practiced exclusively in the area of estate planning, trust administration, probate and tax law for 16 years. She has drafted and administered thousands of revocable and irrevocable trusts - from the simplest probate avoidance-style trusts to the most complex advanced estate planning structures, Wills, Durable Powers of Attorney, Advance Health Care Directives, and Nominations of Guardians for Minor Children. She handles probate administrations throughout California, including those involving contested and litigated issues. Diane also counsels clients with strategic plans appropriate for their personal, business and tax-related issues, including business entity formation, California property tax planning, and various other creative wealth transfer plans.
Diane received her undergraduate degree from the University of California, San Diego in 1999. She went on to graduate from the University of San Francisco School of Law, and thereafter received her Masters in Tax Law, with Distinction, from Georgetown University Law Center.
Diane has worked with the finance and accounting departments of Entenmann's (formerly a division of Kraft General Foods) and Gatorade (division of Pepsi-Co) and the Internal Revenue Service Office of Chief Counsel (Small Business and Self Employed, Tax Exempt and Government Entities). She has also worked with estate planning and tax departments of several law firms in Southern California. Diane has taught several courses for the National Business Institute, such as the Basics of Estate Planning and Probate Boot Camp. Since 2010, the California Board of Legal Specialization designated Diane as a Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust Administration, and Probate Law.
Diane shares her life with her husband Mark, her partner in crime since 1996. They have two young sons and live in the Talega community of San Clemente where they planted roots in 2012. She shamelessly loves all-you-can-eat buffets, the video game Bejeweled Blitz, and wearing purposefully dirty looking sneakers. In her free time, she enjoys Sunday brunch, working out on her Peloton, and taking trips to visit her family in the San Francisco Bay Area.