California Estate Planning Attorney

About Our Firm

Serving Families & Individuals in Palo Alto, CA and the Surrounding Areas

Janet L. Brewer is the principal of the Law Office of Janet L. Brewer, which has its headquarters in Los Altos, California. Janet serves clients throughout the Bay Area and Silicon Valley.

She is certified by the California State Bar Board of Legal Specialization as an estate planning and probate specialist – one of fewer than 100 practicing in Santa Clara County and fewer than 1,100 practicing in California (out of over 250,000 lawyers statewide).

For more than 20 years she has focused her practice on estate planning and probate matters, including the preparation of wills, revocable trusts, tax-sensitive trusts, and gift planning. Janet also assists clients in the formation of family limited partnerships and limited liability companies.

"Working with Janet has been a breath of fresh air. I inherently trust my clients with her and I'm consistently impressed by her thorough/clean explanation of legal jargon as well as her responsiveness to my client's needs. she exemplifies the level of service I am looking for in a referral partner. Thank you"

- David W.

Deep Experience With Complex Estate Planning Situations

Janet has deep experience with complex estate planning situations. In her international estate planning practice, she helps non-resident aliens, visa holders, “green card” holders and other international families with planning for their US-based assets and with minimizing the impact of US estate and gift taxes on international assets. In her high-net-worth estate planning practice, she assists affluent clients with planning in an effort to minimize estate taxation.

Janet is a member of STEP (the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners), an invitation-only group of estate planning professionals who have special expertise in the area of international estate planning. She frequently prepares estate plans for foreign nationals who own property or live in the United States and for US citizens who own property abroad.

Get to know Janet

I needed someone who understood international laws. Janet made a potentially very complicated process feel easy.

- Marisol

A Highly Regarded Professional Who Earns Thanks From Clients

Highly regarded by her fellow professionals, she has achieved a “Superb” peer-review rating through Avvo and an AV Distinguished* peer-review rating through Martindale-Hubbell.

Janet has been a member of the governing body for California’s 250,000+ lawyers, known as the California State Bar Board of Trustees. Prior to her term as a California State Bar Board of Trustees, the California State Bar Board of Trustees had selected her to serve a 3-year term as a member of the Executive Committee of the Solo and Small Firms Section of the State Bar. Janet has taught estate planning for the UC Santa Cruz Certified Financial Planner certificate program.

Ms. Brewer received a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish from the University of Wisconsin and later graduated with a Juris Doctor from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. She later went back to graduate school to obtain a Master of Business Administration from Golden Gate University and a Master of Laws in Taxation at Golden Gate University School of Law.

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