About Karen Meckstroth

I am an estate planning attorney with offices in Los Gatos and San Francisco. I work with clients to create estate plans that address each client’s unique needs. I believe that an effective plan addresses both the tax planning aspects of estate planning and the nontax aspects, taking into account the client’s personal values and family dynamics.

I work with clients on fundamental estate planning (wills, revocable living trusts, durable powers of attorney) and advanced planning (wealth preservation through gifts of partial interests, grantor retained annuity trusts, defective grantor trusts and other planning techniques).

Many of my clients incorporate philanthropy in their family wealth planning. For parents, estate planning is an opportunity to give their children a "charitable inheritance" in addition to property.  Family philanthropy is part of raising grounded children in an affluent world. For some clients, estate planning is an opportunity to create a legacy -- to answer the question, "how is the world different because I passed through it?"

Through private family foundations, donor advised funds, and planned gifts, my clients have used their wealth as an opportunity to change the world for the better. Philanthropy is changing, and I also advise clients who are interested in emerging forms of philanthropy such as social entrepreneurship, aggregate giving, and B-corps. 

Legal Specialization

  • Certified by the State Bar of California as a Legal Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law

Practice Areas

  • Estate planning
  • Charitable planning
  • Trust administration and probate 
  • Family business succession planning

Professional Associations

  • State Bar of California, Trusts and Estates Section
  • State Bar of California, Taxation Section
  • Silicon Valley Bar Association
  • American Bar Association
  • Silicon Valley Planned Giving Council
  • Partnership for Philanthropic Planning

Education

  • J.D., University of California, Hastings College of the Law, 1997
  • M.A., University of California at Berkeley, 1991
  • B.A., University of California at Berkeley, 1982

Bar Admissions

  • All California state courts
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
  • U.S. Tax Court

Reported Cases

  • Chen v. Franchise Tax Bd., 75 Cal. App. 4th 1110 (1998) (holding that a taxpayer need only pay the amount of tax assessed, and not interest, to maintain a suit for refund of corporate franchise taxes)

Non-Profit Boards

  • Member of the Board of Directors, Employment & Community Options (provides employment and housing services to individuals with disabilities and low-income seniors in Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Alameda, San Diego, and San Bernardino Counties)
  • Member of the Board of Directors, Notre Dame High School San Jose