Albert G. Handelman Of Counsel
Albert's practice focuses on all aspects of trust and estate law: trust and estate planning and administration, trust and estate litigation, business succession planning, family wealth preservation, and planned charitable giving. He plans and administers estates ranging in size from $100,000 to $200,000,000.
Albert structures and prepares living trusts, educational trusts, insurance trusts, trusts designed to facilitate intra-family asset transfers in a tax-efficient manner, funded and unfunded buy-sell agreements for owners of closely-held businesses, documents designed to assist in the inter-generational transfer of business interests, and documents establishing private foundations. He represents beneficiaries and fiduciaries as well as other litigants throughout California in matters ranging from simple contested probate hearings to complex jury trials.
In addition to working directly for his clients, Albert often works as a consultant to other lawyers, including serving as an expert witness in trials throughout California. He also writes and speaks frequently on topics involving trust and estate law, including serving as one of the authors and editorial consultants for California Wills & Trusts, a six-volume treatise, forms publication and document-assembly software program which is the leading resource of its type in California.
Albert was one of the first lawyers in California to be certified as a specialist in estate planning, trust and probate law by The State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization, and he was elected as a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel in 1993. He has twice been named by Worth magazine as one of the top 100 lawyers in the United States working with affluent families, and has been selected by his peers as a Northern California Super Lawyer each year since 2005. Albert holds the Accredited Estate Planner designation from the National Association of Estate Planners and Councils.
Albert was a member of the Board of Directors of Community Foundation Sonoma County, having served for two years as Chair of that Board. He served on the Executive Committee of the State Bar of California's Trusts and Estates Section, and was the Executive Editor of the California Trusts and Estates Quarterly published by that Section. Albert is active in the Redwood Empire Estate Planning Council, having previously served as its president.
Albert received his B.S. in Economics cum laude from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1975. He received his J.D. in 1978 from the University of Southern California Law Center. He was admitted to practice in California in 1978.
Practice Areas
Litigation Trust | Probate | Conservatorship
Business Buy-Sell Agreements • Succession Planning •
Trusts & Estates Conservatorships • Estate Planning • Family Wealth Preservation • Planned Charitable Giving • Probate | Trust Administration • Succession Planning • Tax • Wills | Trusts •
Alternative Dispute Resolution Arbitration • Early Neutral Evaluation • Mediation • Settlement Conference •
Professional Affiliations
- Fellow, American College of Trust and Estate Counsel
- Member and Former Chair, Community Foundation Sonoma County Board of Directors
- Member and Past President, Redwood Empire Estate Planning Council
- Accredited Estate Planner, National Association of Estate Planners and Councils
- Former Member, Executive Committee, State Bar of California Trusts and Estates Sec
Publications
Representative Presentations
Representative Client Matters
Publications & Presentations
- Speaker, Community Foundation Sonoma County Professional Advisory Gorup , "Different Year, Different Tax Laws – Really? Planning in Light of New (ish) Tax Laws," 2013.
- Author, Estate Planning Under The 2010 Tax Relief Act, SMT Newsletter 2012 No. 2 January.
- Consultant and Author, LexisNexis (Matthew Bender & Co.), California Wills and Trusts (six-volume treatise published September, 1991) (1989 - Present).
- Consultant, LexisNexis (Matthew Bender & Co.), California Legal Forms (1994 - Present).
- Speaker, Sixteenth Annual Estate and Gift Tax Conference, Estate and Gift Tax Committee of the Taxation Section of the State Bar of California, "Breathing New Life Into a Stale Trust," 2008.
- Panelist, State Bar of California Trusts and Estates Section, "Preparation of the Form 706," 2004-2006.
- Coauthor, "No Contest Clauses Need to Be Reformed, Not Abolished," California Trusts and Estates Quarterly, 2004.
- Speaker, Redwood Empire Estate Planning Council, "Estate Planning For Domestic Partners in California: Navigating the Changing Landscape," 2004.
- Coauthor, "Trust Accounting Alert: Recent Cases re Accounting Requirements for Revocable Trusts and a Proposed Legislative Response," California Trusts and Estates Quarterly, 2001.
- Author, "Will a Probate Court Order for Modification of a Trust Determine Federal Estate Tax Results?" California Trusts and Estates Quarterly, 1999.