James L. Kaller is certified as a specialist by the California State Bar in Probate, Trust and Estate Planning. He has over twenty five years of experience as an estate attorney. His clients include individuals and couples of various ethnic backgrounds from over twenty different countries. Jim handles probate court cases in every county in the San Francisco Bay Area, and most other counties throughout California. He works with clients to administer wills, durable powers of attorney, health care directives, living trusts, irrevocable life insurance trusts (ILITs), qualified personal residence trusts (QPERTs), qualified domestic trusts for non-citizen spouses (QDOTs), charitable remainder trusts (CRTs), and many other estate planning devices. He is an expert on the latest gift and estate tax rulings and frequently assists clients with planning to reduce or eliminate taxes. He often works with clients who have assets in other states or countries to coordinate their California estate plans with out-of-state assets.
Jim is a graduate of Harvard College (BA) and the University Of Texas Law School (JD). He is licensed to practice law in Texas, the District of Columbia, and California. He is also licensed to practice law in various federal courts including the United States Supreme Court and has handled litigation before the California Courts of Appeal, the California Supreme Court, and the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. He is a frequent lecturer on estate planning topics and has written several practical manuals related to probate to help assist other California attorneys.
Jim is a sole practitioner based in San Francisco since 1989. Prior to that time, he worked in general practice for a San Francisco law firm and also served two years as a staff counsel with the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC).
He is fluent in five languages, and when not handling legal matters for clients, Jim is an active SCUBA diver and underwater photographer and also explores remote desert locations throughout North America.
James Kaller is not employed by or affiliated with LPL Financial or Virginia Bria & Associates.