STEFANIE WEST, ESQ.
Estate Planning and Elder Law Attorney
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The Law Firm of Stefanie West focuses on estate planning and trust administration matters, primarily assisting clients in the San Francisco Bay Area to plan their Wills, Trusts, Powers of Attorney and Health Care Directives.
Stefanie is most often called in as resource when a family member becomes sick, incapacitated or has passed away. She helps clients to decide who should be the guardian of their children if they could not do so due to death or incapacity. Stefanie and her firm also help clients to administer estates and assist the Trustee and Executor in carrying out these final wishes for their loved ones.
Biography:
Stefanie West is an estate planning attorney in the San Francisco East Bay. She lives with her husband, Jim, her son Benjamin, and two dogs, Penny and Biggie.
Stefanie received both her B.A., summa cum laude, and her law degree from the University of California at Berkeley. Stefanie spent her last year of law school studying at Harvard Law School, and graduated at the top of her class. Prior to entering the private practice of law, Stefanie was the first Planned Giving Officer at U.C. Berkeley’s Law School. In this position, she helped the school’s most prestigious donors with their bequests and other estate gifts to the University.
Stefanie’s current practice is exclusively estate planning, including Wills, Trusts, Probate and Medi-Cal planning. She assists clients without long term care insurance who need skilled nursing care to become qualified for Medi-Cal.
Stefanie served as the Chair of the City of Lafayette's Senior Services Commission. As Chair, she worked to prevent elder fraud and abuse and to bring services to seniors in her community. She also served on the Contra Costa Advisory Council on Aging.
Stefanie also believes that young children should be taught strong money skills and how to save for a “rainy day.” She volunteers with Junior Achievement to teach financial literacy to elementary and middle school students. She also is a frequent speaker at parent groups, where she discusses ways parents can teach their children the basics about money.
