Lisa Keylon - Lawyer in Phoenix, AZ

Lisa Kurtz Keylon

Trusts Attorney at Phoenix, AZ

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Knowledgeable and wonderful to work with

Our family has used Lisa and her services for many years, in fact we had such a good experience that we followed her when she moved to her current practice. Recently, we needed her professional help revisiting the family Trust and Estate Plan following the death of my father. Once again Lisa helped with every step, in fact she took our call while on vacation going above and beyond expectation. We worked together on trust amendments, property deeds, beneficiaries, EIN requests, family settlement agreement and much more. More importantly, Lisa has that down to earth approach, not only in her demeanor but also in her ability to fully explain all steps involved.

Great common sense lawyer, always a pleasure

We have known Lisa for 7 years as she did some previous trust work for us with excellent results. Our family trust required updates and we went again to Lisa due to the great experience from the past. Lisa is very knowledgeable on the subjects and explains everything in a way that a non-legal person can understand. In addition she is very personable and easy to work with on these matters which at times can get a bit intense! The entire process went well and we are very pleased. We have additional trust work to update that have already retained Lisa to start in April. You will not be disappointed with Lisa, very professional and courteous.

About Lisa

Learn Lisa’s areas of practice.

Practice areas

Trusts

50%

13 years
Wills and living wills

25%

13 years
Power of attorney

15%

13 years
Limited liability company (LLC)

5%

12 years
Probate

5%

13 years

STAY AHEAD OF THE CURVE--TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR LIFE AND ASSETS! PLAN YOUR AFFAIRS WITH LISA KEYLON.

I am an Arizona native and grew up with my five siblings near Camelback Mountain after my parents settled in Phoenix in 1959 to establish my father's urology practice, Urology Associates, Ltd.

I attended Kiva Elementary School and Xavier College Preparatory in Arizona. I then went to Evanston, Illinois to attend Northwestern University. I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Speech, having majored in Theater and Speech Education. I returned to Phoenix and coached debaters, taught theatre and began coaching lawyers. With a desire to practice locally, attending ASU's College of Law in Tempe, Arizona was a logical choice for where to earn my juris doctorate. While there, I served as Moot Court Chairman, co-taught "Courtroom as Theatre" and received upon graduation both the Excellence in Advocacy Award and Matheson Service Award.

I started practicing law as a prosecutor in the Vehicular Crimes Division at the Maricopa County Attorney's Office. Begam, Lewis, Marks & Wolfe then hired me to handle the day to day workings of the Multidistrict Breast Implant Ligitation, for which the firm was the state liaison. In addition to those responsibilities, I was a trial advocate in a successful plaintiffs personal injury and wrongful death practice. During the next decade, I represented plaintiff victims in a multitude of areas: juvenile prison release cases, auto wreck cases, slip and fall cases, burn cases, insurance bad faith cases, nursing home elder abuse cases and the list goes on. I have been published in The Arizona Attorney, The Advocate, and the ATLA Section Newsletter. I have served in leadership roles with the American Trial Lawyers Association, the Arizona Trial Lawyers Association and the Arizona Women's Lawyers Association.

After taking a hiatus to begin a family, I returned to the practice of law in 2009 when I was invited to serve as lead counsel in a probate dispute. While working through the issues, it was clear to me that many of the problems arose because of poor estate planning and poor communication within that family. I became passionate about helping families avoid this kind of problem by improving their estate plans and by helping them improve family dynamics with better communication strategies.

I opened my own practice in 2010 and served clients until I was invited to join Mark Bregman, Esq. in downtown Phoenix. When our practice merged to become Dyer Bregman & Ferris, I decided that I preferred to help people outside of a large firm environment. That is when I re-opened my private practice in May 2016 using my dba: Ahead Of The Curve Law®

My goal is to help families manage and transfer their assets during periods of incapacity and on death in the way that offers them the control they desire with the level of complexity that is right for their families. I want to help them create a more fluid process more fluid. I want them to consider protecting their assets from creditors and bankruptcy and divorce and understand how that is accomplished. I want to help them control capital gains tax in the era where that is the greater risk than incurring estate tax. Perhaps most, important, I want them to know that they can call me with with quetions and concerns without facing a big fee every six minutes!

I try to balance my practice with my family life, which includes my husband, Jim, and two sons, Luke and Sam. My 86 year old mother lives with me part of the year too. I am deeply committed to voluntarism and currently work with the Boy Scouts, in my sons' middle and high schools, at Valley Presbyterian Church and on the board for the Phoenix Chapter of the Society for Financial Service Professionals.

I love people. I love to help. I hope I can be of some service to you.

Awards

Client's Choice

2014

Photos and videos

Licensed for 30 years

State AZ

Status Active

Acquired 1992

Updated 12/21/2022

We have not found any instances of professional misconduct for this lawyer.

Contact Lisa

Lisa Kurtz Keylon, PLC / DBA Ahead Of The Curve Law

(480) 389-5139 Office

11811 N. Tatum Blvd., Suite P-112

Phoenix, AZ, 85028

aheadofthecurvelaw.com/

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Reviews

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4.9 / 5.0

15 customer reviews

5 Star

93%

4 Star

3 Star

2 Star

1 Star

Client's Choice

Lisa received a significant number of 4+ stars in 2014

Posted by joyce | February 1, 2023

Knowledgeable and wonderful to work with

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Posted by Mark | March 13, 2020

Great common sense lawyer, always a pleasure

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Posted by Barbara | January 17, 2020

Lisa is Fabulous to work with.

Lisa is absolutely the best! I was between a rock and a hard place. I was getting divorced and buying a new home. My ex husband to be refused to sign the paperwork stating that he would have absolutely no ownership in the house. The title company wanted that paperwork signed. My ex was just being as difficult as possible. Boy, could I tell you some stories about that. Lol. The title company suggested that I open a trust and buy the house through the trust and then he wouldn’t need to sign the disclaimer. Lisa Keylon was referred to me by my insurance guy. I called her and she immediately knew what we needed to do. I was working on a short time window and my house was set to close in 10 days. I am still amazed that she was able to get everything done and I bought my house through my new Trust. I also did my living will and power of attorneys ect. along with the trust. She gave great advice and definitely had a vast knowledge of the law regarding trusts and estate planning. I recommend her highly.

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Posted by Kathie | June 12, 2019

Phenomenal People Skills

Lisa demonstrated phenomenal people skills with unbelievable expertise. I was so impressed with her patience and perseverance throughout her multi-management of the process. I always felt confident and secure that the best solutions were always achieved. She has an amazing ability to reach and embrace all cultures and actively learn about differences as the case progressed to finality. The entire process seemed amazingly smooth thanks to her incredible timelines and structural organization. Lisa definitely mastered the art of perfection in her work. I was extremely pleased with the end product and would recommend her highly from the perspective of a return or new client.

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Posted by Jeannette | May 23, 2019

Client

When I moved to the Phoenix area, a business associate referred me to Lisa Keylon. After having previously worked with two different trust attorneys, I can sincerely say that Lisa is awesome! What a difference in the level of service that Lisa provides. She is completely thorough, extremely knowledgeable, and entirely dedicated to MY specific wishes and needs. I wholeheartedly recommend Lisa Keylon, without reservation.

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Posted by Terri | February 6, 2018

Recommendation

I had the pleasure of hiring Lisa for a very difficult situation regarding my mother. After our initial phone call, Lisa graciously met us at Banner Hospital where my mother was being treated for 3 types of cancer. She sensitively attained all of the information required to make my mother's will and power of attorney. Lisa was very careful, thorough and kind during what was a very sad time for our family. We did not know it at the time, but my mother would pass away 2 months later. Lisa found and corrected a glitch for which had not hired her, would have posed a huge problem for us and cost us a lot of money to deal with later. She kindly spent time on the phone with me due to me living in Pennsylvania, all while making the whole process very affordable. She is not a nickel and dime attorney and she has a giant heart. She was there for us at all times and we were consistently able to get ahold of her or her assistant. There were a few occasions that I needed something that was time sensitive and she dropped everything to handle it right then and there. She was not only our attorney, but was also a friend to us. I highly recommend Lisa Keylon and her thorough and sensitive work an estate planner.

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Posted by Brad | December 18, 2015

Very Satisfied

We are very glad to have found Lisa to guide us through our estate planning, which while not horribly complex, included some special attention towards our deaf daughter and an inherited IRA. Lisa and her staff were very thorough in all this. Importantly, her work does not end with delivering the plan or trust, but continues to make certain the instrument is properly funded and put in place. In our situation, this involved communication between Lisa and our financial advisor, both working to make everything run smoothly. That advisor was so impressed with Lisa (he has worked with Many lawyers), that he now recommends her to his clients in the Phoenix area.

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Posted by Gary L | October 15, 2015

Comfortable Experience

I was in need of a complete estate plan review and update, and Lisa was one of three attorneys recommended. After telephone interviews, I was comfortable going to the next step - a personal interview. The interview went exceptionally well, and I knew she was the one to do what I expected. My original trust documents were completed in 2001, and were in need of significant modification. Lisa listened carefully and took the time to develop all that was necessary in a complete estate plan. I could not have asked for a better job. She worked closely with my financial planner of 20 years, and incorporated their suggestions - since they had worked with me for so many years. The end result was a complete and professional plan that I am confident was worth every penny spent. I would recommend her to anyone for development of a detailed estate plan. She and her staff were very impressive.

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Posted by Gary | October 25, 2014

I highly recommend Lisa Kurtz Keylon

My Living Trust was created in 1997. As the time went by and so many items and people and my desires listed in the trust had changed. I felt very uncomfortable and hoped that nothing would happen to me before the trust was re-stated. Looking for a good lawyer I asked around and even interviewed a couple. Neither felt like the 'right' lawyer. Then, I was recommended to Lisa. I immediately felt confident about her and used her. I gave her excellent results for each of the review ratings on Avvo. She deserved each. She was more like a friend who had a genuine interest in setting up the trust the way that it should be and for what I wanted to accomplish.

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Posted by Rick | February 14, 2014

Progressive, high quality estate planning lawyer in Scottsdale

Lisa really helped us make sense out of a complicated his, hers and theirs type of situation. She helped us understand our estate planning options, then let us decide what path would be right for us. The trust she prepared for us is robust, and has provisions for nearly everything that might happen to us over the next several years. In the end, she took the time to explain all the parts of the trust documents, including identifying the part that might need to be updated over time as our situation changes.

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Posted by Randy | February 10, 2014

Charitable Remainder Trust client

Lisa is very professional and at the same time personable. My experience was with a Charitable Remainder Trust client. I am one of the other advisors for the client. Lisa was very inclusive and helpful to the other members of the team: financial planner and administrator. Lisa made a complex process easy for the client to understand. The clients seemed very pleased with the process and the results of Lisa's work.

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Posted by George | February 9, 2014

Great Trust Attorney

Great personality and office staff. Very efficient. Prices are very reasonable. Helped my son and I with our Gun Trust. Plan to have her do my Revocable Living Trust in the near future. George L Sibley MD

Posted by anonymous | February 9, 2014

Passionate but with Good Sense of Humor

Lisa enjoys what she does and is thorough to a fault, creating a complete trust document albeit somewhat complex. Her emphasis on family and managing family relationships through the estate process and longer term is outstanding. Lisa is easy to work with and inclusive of all those who may need to involved, such as your financial advisor. We enjoyed working with her.

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Posted by anonymous | August 22, 2012

She made the process enyoable and she is passion of what she does

Doing a state planing it was something that we have been postponing for a while because our busy schedule. But Lisa made sure to accomated challenging schedules, keep us informed on the next steps and made all the process enyoable. She is a fantastic communicator and very knowable. Our state planing required different solutions because we are not citizens but our kids are. She made changes to incorporate. We really trust her.

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Posted by anonymous | February 19, 2014

Personable lawyer with a consultative, thorough work style.

We hired Lisa to develop our estate plan. We didn't have any pre-existing documents. Everything (wills, powers of attorney, living wills, etc) was developed from scratch, with Lisa's guidance. Lisa was very thorough in ensuring all aspects of estate planning were covered. She was very helpful in making us aware of our options with respect to how we set up the various documents. She helped us think through some challenging and sometimes sensitive issues...and she provided good solutions for addressing those issues. She was also very helpful in educating us on various estate planning topics. Lisa has a very personable style that makes her easy to work with. She would be a particularly good choice for someone who is new to estate planning and is looking for helpful guidance.

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Cost

Resume

AVVO RATING 8.9 (Excellent)

Work Experience

Founding Attorney
Ahead Of The Curve Law®
2016 - Present

Associate Attorney
Law Office of Mark Bregman
2014 - 2016

Managing Attorney
Lisa Kurtz Keylon, PLC
2010 - 2015

Associate Attorney
Cure Law Firm
2000 - 2000

Attorney
Keylon Law Firm
2000 - 2010

Associate Attorney
Begam Lewis Marks & Wolfe
1993 - 1999

Deputy County Attorney
Maricopa County Attorney's Ofc
1992 - 1993

Summer Associate
Jones, Skelton & Hochuli, PLC
1991 - 1991

Summer Associate
Langerman, Begam, Lewis & Marks
1990 - 1991

View all work experience

Education

Arizona State University
Juris Doctorate
1992

Northwestern University
BS - Bachelor of Science
1987

Xavier College Preparatory
Diploma
1983

Legal Cases

Clients and Cases Confidential and Privileged

Associations

North Phoenix Chamber of Commerce
Steering Committee for Senior Care
2019 - Present

WealthCounsel and Arizona Forum of WealthCounsel
Member
2010 - Present

Presbyterian Church USA
Elder
2001 - Present

Society of Financial Service Professionals
Vice President. Chair of Program Committee
2018 - 2019

Society of Financial Service Professionals
Vice President / Co-Chair Membership and Sponsorship
2017 - 2018

Society of Financial Service Professionals
Board of Directors / Membership Chair
2016 - 2018

State Bar of Arizona
Executive Council for Elder and Mental Health Law Section
2010 - 2012

The Junior League of Phoenix, Inc.
President
2004 - 2005

American Trial Lawyers Association
Premises, Highway and MVA Section, Vice Chair
1999 - 2000

Arizona Trial Lawyers Association
Consumer Action Auto Research Task Force, Member
1998 - 2000

Arizona Womens Lawyers Association
Steering Committee for Maricopa Chapter, Member
1998 - 1999

American Trial Lawyers Association
Women Lawyers Committee, Arizona Liaison
1995 - 2000

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Languages Spoken

English

Honors and Awards

Alan P. Matheson Service Award
Arizona State University College of Law
1992

Outstanding Senior in Speech Education
Northwestern University
1987

Outstanding Written Oration
Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge
1984

DePaoli - Kurtz Forensic Award
Xavier College Preparatory
1983

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Publications

American Trial Lawyers Association Newsletter
Offers of Judgment
1999

Advocate
Non Parties at Fault
1997

Arizona Attorney
Voire Dire
1992

Speaking Engagements

Arizona Forum WealthCounsel
Practice Panel TIPS
2019

C2 Tactical Gun Range: Shedding Light on Gun Trusts
Firearms Estate Planning
2018

Maravilla Educational Program
Health Emergency Planning
2017

CEPA Monthly Meeting
Getting My Guns To A Good Home
2017

Wild West Money Makers Monthly Meeting
Shedding Light on Gun Trusts
2016

Foundation for Senior Living
Estate Planning
2016

2015 AZ Forum Spring Conference
Getting My Guns To A Good Home
2015

Rio Salado Sportsman's Club: Getting My Guns To A Good Home
Firearms Estate Planning
2013

Pebble Creek Gun Club Meeting
Firearms Estate Planning: Getting My Guns To A Good Home
2013

LawReviewCle:Estate Planning Basics
Estate Planning Basics
2013

Jewish Legal Aid Education Event
Wills, Trusts, and Estates: A Practical Approach
2013

Gun Trusts 101- Maricopa Mounted Sherriff's Posse
Gun Trusts
2013

Rio Salado Sportsman's Club: Firearms Estate Planning
Shedding Light on Gun Trusts
2012

National Business Institute: Trusts
Trusts 101
2012

Greer Community Center: Estate Planning and Gun Trusts
Estate Planning and Gun Trusts
2012

BNI electronic seminar
Probate: Cleaning Up the Joint Tenancy Mess
2012

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Attorney endorsements

Received (5)

Given (4)

Endorse Lisa

Mark Bregman

Estate planning Attorney | Jan 23
Relationship: Worked together on matter

"I endorse this lawyer because she is an energetic and caring lawyer who knows how to ask the right questions and design a superlative trust based estate plan using the latest tools, techniques, and theories for any size estate. Whether you are new to estate planning or need to revisit your outdated estate plan, you will be happy you met and worked with Lisa. I encourage you to call her today."

Paul Deloughery

Trusts Attorney | Aug 10
Relationship: Fellow lawyer in community

"Lisa has become really familiar with gun trusts. And her knowledge is certainly not merely theoretical. She is a gun owner herself, and enjoys talking about shooting. Plus she and I worked on various probate cases a few years ago, so I know she is familiar with estate planning and probate issues. A fair number of estate planning attorneys approach the subject from a theoretical standpoint, but they make mistakes because they haven't had to deal with the aftermath when things weren't set up properly. Lisa has had personal experience with estate planning and probate issues, and she brings that experience to bear when helping her clients."

David Duringer

Trusts Attorney | Feb 05
Relationship: Other

"I endorse this lawyer for estate planning, especially for any gun-owning families in Arizona. Lisa is a respected colleague in the niche area of gun trust planning, and an excellent resource for both attorneys and clients."

Holly Gieszl

Wills and living wills Attorney | Dec 05
Relationship: Fellow lawyer in community

"I endorse this lawyer. Experienced; Talented; Committed to clients."

Ilene McCauley

Estate planning Attorney | Sep 04
Relationship: Fellow lawyer in community

"I endorse this lawyer. Lisa is a fine attorney with great expertise in wills and trust and estate administration. She has many years of experience in working with clients in this area of law. She is thorough, effective and her clients love to work with her. I strongly recommend her."