John Golden is a California Certified Specialist in Probate, Estate Planning & Trust Law in Hopkins & Carley’s Redwood Shores office. With more than 35 years of experience in estate planning, John counsels clients on estate planning and administration of estates and trusts, including:
- Business formation
- Preparation and audits of estates
- Gift
- Generation-skipping
- Fiduciary income tax returns
- Planned charitable gifts
- Transactional real estate work
- Trust and estate litigation
Prior to joining Hopkins & Carley, John was a partner with Basye & Golden in San Mateo.
- Defended client in trust matter brought by his siblings. Achieved successful result in obtaining an award of attorneys’ fees from the primary litigating sibling.
- Represented incompetent client and victim in an elder abuse claim against a professional using a power of attorney to embezzle funds. Obtained successful result with removal of the professional as executor, recovered the embezzled funds, and worked with the licensing authorities to revoke the professional’s license.
- Served as guardian ad litem for the remainder beneficiaries of a substantial long-term trust and enhanced wards’ interests by millions of dollars, while avoiding family litigation.
- Advised estate planning client on designing a plan allowing them to provide a substantial additional lifetime income for his former spouse.
- Peninsula Estate Planning Council
- American Bar Association (Real Property, Probate & Trust Law Section, Law Practice Management Sections)
- State Bar of California (Trust and Estate Section)
- San Mateo County Bar (Estate Planning & Probate Section)
- State Bar of California (1978)
- J.D., University of California, Hastings
- B.S. Political Science, University of Southern California, Los Angeles
