Chris Peter Elzi

I was born and raised in Petaluma, Sonoma County, as were my parents.

I attended Santa Rosa Junior College and University of San Francisco, where I earned my Bachelor of Arts degree (Summa Cum Laude, in two majors). In 1979, I graduated from USF School of Law, and passed the Bar.

While in law school, I spent two semesters as Research Clerk for Judge William B. Boone.

Several years ago, I began to realize that many lawyers in estate planning are like generals fighting the last war. Like our clients, we worry about probate (inconvenient and expensive, but not necessarily ruinous) and taxes (no longer a concern to most of our clients).

Instead, we should be concerned with those issues raised by longer life expectancies, medical planning, and the need to plan for an extended old age. Specifically, we need to concern ourselves (and explain to our clients) about matters like the Durable Power of Attorney, Advance Health Care Directive, and planning to protect assets for our clients' loved ones in case of nursing home care.