James David Stein

We had a complicated estate planning need for our disabled daughter, her siblings and our grandchildren. James lead us through the process systematically, had "homework" forms for us to easily submit the info he needed, and provided great advice on setting it up. He was also very helpful in appropriately assigning IRA beneficiaries considering the recent laws limiting their stretch provisions. The end product he delivers is also a class act with everything neatly provided in a binder and a cover letter telling us what we need to do to keep it current. My wife and I feel we got a great deal out of this process, and are comfortable that our children and grandchildren will be receiving the best we can give.

I am so grateful to have selected Attorney James D. Stein to redo my Estate Plan. I have had other Attorneys in the past but James is the best by far. James is astute, pleasant, patient and was there to protect all of my wishes and concerns.

My wife and I were looking for a lawyer who specialized in estate planning as we wanted to create a comprehensive estate plan. After interviewing several law firms we chose the Law Office of James D. Stein. James was very professional, knowledgeable, courteous and answered all our questions in a timely manner. The entire process from the initial consultation to getting the trust signed was smooth and easy. I would highly recommend this law firm.

I hired James to create a complete estate plan for my uncle. The plan was relatively straightforward, but involved multiple family members, and then, when researching deeds, James discovered a number of issues with how they had been originally filed, many years ago, which could have created a mess when we eventually try to sell the property. I'm thankful for James' ability to manage this project in an extremely professional manner, his attention to detail, desire to get everything straightened out, and for being flexible with scheduling, when we all had to sign documents on the same date. He had to send multiple packages out to different family members, and everything came with clear instructions and well-marked. All together, he's fantastic, and I'll soon be hiring him to do my estate plan as well.

James is awesome. He's professional, knowledgeable, easy going, patient, kind, and thorough. We'd been dragging our feet on creating a trust, wills, and all the grown up stuff. James was a saint as he walked us through the entire process from start to finish. Without his patient perseverance, I doubt we would've finished. I highly recommend James' services and would happily work with him again.

James efficiently and kindly helped my grandfather and I to make a trust in August 2020. My grandpa's health was shaky and James prioritized our account to get things done quickly. My grandpa didn't even have a current ID and he found a legal way to manage that and have the trust go through. During covid times getting a state ID for a 92-year-old bed-ridden man an ID would have been really difficult. James provides thorough information so you can manage what you need to on your own to make the trust complete. A month has passed since setting up the trust, and so has my grandpa. This time is very hard for me, he was my only family, and I am trusting in James to help me through once more by hiring him to close out the trust. My grandpa was very appreciative of his help when he was alive, and asked that I write as many good reviews as I could forJames, so here I am on behalf of myself and my grandpa. He liked James' sense of humor and how warm and friendly he is and was very pleased by how timely and considerate his service is. If he had not been as effective and clear as he was we may not have accomplished my grandpa's wishes in time. Now I know how important it is to get these things done in a timely fashion. Yes the cost might seem high (not comparatively, just in general) but the value is that I have so much less to worry about now that I am so overwhelmed by my grief.

We recently completed estate planning with Mr Stein and it was easy, informative and comforting. At a time when nothing feels safe, establishing a trust for our family was an overdue task. After a series of well planned phone calls and emails, many of our fears have passed and we have Mr Stein to thank for it. He was tactful, professional, and witty. I had hoped to find someone who made us feel competent and comfortable. I hadn’t expected to find a lawyer who would also be friendly and kind. Mr Stein took the time to explain things clearly, answered any questions we had with the utmost in patience and has given us amazing peace of mind. We are incredibly appreciative and full recommend his services to others.

We could not have been happier with the service that James provided for us as we planned out our Estate Plan. After speaking with some friends and family about the process we knew that it was important to find a knowledgeable and trustworthy lawyer to help guide us as we set up this important set of documents. After doing our due diligence and meeting with some other lawyers in the area we found James to be thorough, professional, and someone who we could see ourselves working with in the future.  The overall process took about 3 months, however much of the time needed was on me and my wife's side. As a young family we had a lot of decisions to make, everything from managing our assets, to how we designated caregivers for our children, and advance directives in the event of a medical issue. James walked us through multiple scenarios and was very patient & attentive with us as we asked many questions along the way. There were some tough conversations that we had to have as a family, but I believe James did a great job preparing us for these conversations and did not rush the process.  In addition to his stellar service we believe he was fair in his pricing and turnaround time. Considering the massive size of the Estate Plan that James put together for us (including trust documents, wills, advance healthcare directives, etc.), I'm amazed at how fast he was able to not just put this all together but also empower us to learn about each of these components. We highly recommend James for his Estate Plan services and look forward to working with him in the future.

We were in need of a trustworthy local attorney to help us with our estate planning, and James Stein completely came through for us. He is prompt, punctual, meticulous and understanding. He is very methodical in his approach. He listens intently, and crafts a legal package to suit your particular situation. My wife and I are very happy to have chosen James for our estate planning and highly recommend him.

James helped me put together my first estate plan after I had inherited assets from my father (who unexpectedly passed away). The idea of putting together an estate plan is daunting in and of itself, and given the circumstances I sought James' help under, I was experiencing additional stress. James has a kind demeanor and was gracious with his time, patiently answering all of my questions and walking me through the entire process. He also went above and beyond multiple times to point me in the direction of resources related to my inherited properties. I highly recommend James and believe anyone will feel well taken care when employing his services.

We had procrastinated too long in getting our estate incorporated into a trust (it is important to do this and avoid the delays and cost of probate proceedings). This Law Office was very helpful and efficient. The cost was reasonable. Everything went quite smoothly. James Stein was most pleasant to work with as well. And he followed up afterward with advice and reminders to take care of some important things afterward.

At our age, we needed a living trust badly. Friends and relatives had finished theirs many years ago. They kept reminding us about it, but we had been procrastinating to get one done. Finally, we found some time to do it. James Stein is a great lawyer. He is very knowledgeable about what we need to do with our living trust. He gives recommendations of making the living trust better and more efficient. He goes through the documents with us with extreme care. We strongly recommend him.

We highly recommend James Stein for estate planning. We went to James for a restatement of our 2006 living trust and for an update of all our estate planning documents. James was thorough and efficient in evaluating our personal financial situation and in guiding us through all required decisions and options. He answered all questions patiently and completely. The final product is a beautiful, well organized binder with all necessary documents and instructions. He also provided an electronic copy of all documents. James exceeded our expectations!

It was a pleasure to have James as the attorney to prepare our family trust. We found him to be knowledgeable, thorough and extremely organized. Communications were easy as he was always accessible and answered all our questions and concerns in a timely manner. His explanations were always concise, to-the-point and easy to understand. He was patient and flexible in his work to accommodate our busy schedule. He is friendly, easy to work with and a true professional. We are very happy with the final document that he prepared for us. We highly recommend him as an attorney for preparing a family trust. Kathy J. Danville, CA August 2019

We had a wonderful experience working with James Stein on setting up a Trust and Will for our family. We had a scheduled trip overseas coming up and were very delayed in setting anything up. We have children and property, but had nothing documented or set up for an event that one of us or both of us suddenly pass away. James has been very supportive and was able to complete the most crucial documents before our departure. He was respectful of our schedules and commutes and was flexible enough to meet us at our house. He walked us through the process clearly and made the entire experience funner than we anticipated. We are extremely grateful to him for giving us a peace of mind before the trip. We can now sleep better at night, knowing that we took steps to ensure our family will be better taken care of.