Janis Ann Carney

Janis Ann Carney

also known as \WIDLAST LEGAL, \The Law Offices of Janis A. Carney

5.0
Rating: 10.0

Licensed for 35 years

Elder law Lawyer at Los Gatos, CA
Practice Areas: Elder Law, Estate Planning, Trusts, Probate

266 Los Gatos - Saratoga Rd., Los Gatos, CA

About Janis

Biography

Practice Areas

4

Practice Areas

Elder Law 50%

My Elder Law practice focuses on promoting Quality of Life and Quality of Care for my chronically ill elderly or disabled clients. The firm employees a Care Coordinator who works with me on our Life Care planning team. We also offer pre-need long-term care planning for clients to protect assets ahead of a chronic illness and are happy to plan for VA benefits and Medi-Cal eligibility where needed. We plan for incapacity with AHCDs and DPAs and do conservatorships when clients failed to plan.

50%
Estate Planning 20%

California is a very "trust friendly" state. My practice handles all asspects of estate planning and offers a unique "retainer program" to add our clients in keeping their estate plans up to date.

20%
Trusts 20%

Living trusts are a basic part of most estate planning in California. In addition, I prepare many irrevocable trusts as a part of long-term care pre-planning, Life-Care Planning, VA planning and Medi-Cal planning in my elder law practice, including a "House Trust", a "Protector Trust" and both first and third party "Special Needs Trusts".

20%
Probate 10%

When a probate is needed, or desirable, in a case, I and my partners handle all aspects of such proceedings.

10%

Fees and Rates

Cost

Retainer

Sometimes


Payment Methods

  • Cash
  • Check
  • Credit Card

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Licenses

Licensed in California for 35 years

State: California

Acquired: 1990

Active

No misconduct found

Location

WIDLAST LEGAL

266 Los Gatos - Saratoga Rd., Los Gatos, CA, 95030

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Janis Ann Carney's Reviews

Avvo Review Score

5.0 /5.0

7 Client Reviews

5 star (7)
4 star (0)
3 star (0)
2 star (0)
1 star (0)

Posted by Michael | October 19, 2018 | Hired Attorney

This review is from a person who hired this attorney.

Janis A. Carney to the rescue

I was really in a rough situation with my Uncle. Unfortunately, he was quickly passing away and only had a few days to live. I called an attorney that the hospital case managers suggested in order to set up a trust. That attorney was not in. I asked the hospital case mgr for the name of another attor...ney and they gave me Janis A. Carney. Janis was in and took my call. I explained the situation to Janis over the phone. She told me she would be at my Uncles bedside with us in an hour. In approx one hour from hanging up the phone Janis came into the hospital room at Kaiser Permanente introduced herself to all family that was present and told us all to leave the room and come back in an hour. We did just that and 75 minutes later the doors to my Uncles room opened. Janis told us she had what she needed and told us she’d be back in a few hours for my Uncle to sign trust documents. She was back in a few hours and my Uncle did sign the documents. Because of Janis doing this, most of his assets will go where he wanted it to go and will not end up in probate or with people my Uncle didn’t want to have it. This gave him peace of mind and made his last 3 days with us much more bearable. We can’t thank Janis enough for making his last hours worry free. Our case is still ongoing after almost 14 months and will go on for another few months before it’s finished due to complications with other family members. However, we are confident with Janis’s help we will overcome these last hurdles and completely settle my Uncles trust as he wanted.

Posted by Jane | August 28, 2018 | Hired Attorney

This review is from a person who hired this attorney.

Caring and Helpfully

Janis was my Mothers attorney for many years and was always helpful in her advice and timely in meeting Mother's legal needs. Her caring, compassion and kindness were greatly appreciated.

Posted by anonymous | August 1, 2018 | Hired Attorney

This review is from a person who hired this attorney.

Long Term Care Planning & Protection of Assets

Janis was referred to us by another attorney because she specializes in financial planning for long term care and establishing trusts to provide for future generations. My husband was diagnosed with dementia, and I was concerned and confused about long term care facilities and having the assets to p...rovide for his care. Janis guided us through the process, step by step, explaining the laws related to MediCARE and MediCAL; the resources available; and how to best provide for our financial needs as we age. My family and I feel that we are in good hands. Not only does Janis have the expertise, but she has been very kind, empathetic, and supportive throughout this difficult journey. We give her the highest recommendation.

Posted by Peggy | July 19, 2018 | Hired Attorney

This review is from a person who hired this attorney.

Henry Chavez Trust

Thank you for re-arranging the trust and offering multiple options that could meet our families long term goals.

Posted by Richard | June 15, 2018 | Hired Attorney

This review is from a person who hired this attorney.

Thorough and Responsive Estate Planning

We started working with Janis Carney after attending her estate planning presentation. In our initial interview, she clearly explained the process and milestones to create our estate plan, along with her pricing. Her pricing and billing are transparent and we always understand what we are paying f...or at each step. Janis and her associates worked patiently with us to understand our requirements and incorporate those into the plan. Several times they were able to suggest options that brought our plan closer to satisfying what we really wanted, rather than what we thought we wanted at the outset. In the end, we were satisfied that the plan met our needs. Now when we see articles about estate planning in the news and online, we find that issues in the articles that apply to our situation have already been addressed in our estate plan. That gives us great confidence in the quality of the estate plan they created for us. We are happy she has an ongoing service to address changes in the tax and legal environment and changes in our needs. She and her team took our concerns seriously, whether about the plan or process. They always responded quickly and thoughtfully to our calls and emails. Janis addressed our questions about document and data security honestly and completely. Not only is their practice serious about security, but they continue to improve, adding a data portal for secure messaging and document sharing. We would not hesitate to recommend Janis and her team. They are professional, patient, complete and dedicated to quality.

See All Client Reviews

Janis Ann Carney's Lawyer Endorsements

Endorse Janis
Mark D. Munson headshot
Mark Munson

Elder law lawyer | Mar 08

Relationship: Fellow lawyer in community

"I highly recommend and endorse Attorney Janis Carney in elder law matters. Janis is an extremely smart, talented, and caring attorney who truly cares about her clients' best interests and is a zealous advocate on behalf of her clients. I have absolutely no reservations in recommending anyone to her who needs California-based elder law or special needs legal representation."

Susana Lannik headshot
Susana Lannik

Elder law lawyer | Nov 18

Relationship: Other

"I endorse this lawyer. Janis and I have known each other for close to three years. We work together in a leading lawyers group, and I always look forward to hearing her at our meetings. Aside from being knowledgable in elder law, she has an intuitive sense of how to communicate with people, a very patient way of listening, and goes above and beyond when it comes to both serving her clients and advising her colleagues."

Karol A. Bisbee headshot
Karol Bisbee

Elder law lawyer | Sep 13

Relationship: Other

"Janis is a superb attorney. She has the great ability to analyze a situation and make thoughtful, caring and compassionate reccomendations. She is a contributer in her community and often has the solutions that other attorneys and community organizations seek. I highly recommend her."

Elijah Michael Keyes headshot
Elijah Keyes

Estate planning lawyer | Jan 10

Relationship: Worked for lawyer

"I have worked for Janis and have an extremely high opinion of her. She has more than 15 years of experience in estate planning and elder law and often is contacted by other attorneys as a resource for elder law issues, VA issues and medi-cal questions. Janis has a great ability to connect with her clients. She often spends 2 hours explaining legal principals to her clients and takes great strides to make sure that her clients are comfortable with the information she has provided and explained. I strongly recommend Janis to prospective clients as well as other attorneys looking for a resource."

John Crandall Foster headshot
John Foster

Elder law lawyer | Jan 06

Relationship: Worked together on matter

"Janis Carney is an excellent lawyer who knows her area of practice in great detail. In addition to being very knowledgeable, she has a very practical approach that avoids the "cookie cutter" solutions so many attorneys in this area of law provide. I strongly endorse Janis Carney as someone that can be relied upon to do a great job for your clients."

View All Endorsements
Richard Coryell Dayton headshot
Richard Dayton

Unknown lawyer

Susana Lannik headshot
Susana Lannik

Elder law lawyer

Jackie Wilbur Bedard headshot
Jackie Bedard

Elder law lawyer

John Crandall Foster headshot
John Foster

Estate planning lawyer

Victoria L. Collier headshot
Victoria Collier

Elder law lawyer

Experience

Rating:  10.0 (Superb)

Honors

2014

Northern California Super Lawyer - Elder Law, Northern California Super Lawyers

2013

Northern California Super Lawyer - Elder Law, Northern California Super Lawyers

2012

Northern California Super Lawyer - Elder Law, Northern California Super Lawyers

2011

Northern California Super Lawyer - Elder Law, Northern California Super Lawyers

2010

Northern California Super Lawyer - Elder Law, Northern California Super Lawyers

2009

Accredited Attorney, Veteran's Administration

2009

Northern California Super Lawyer - Elder Law, Northern California Super Lawyers

2008

Super Lawyer -Elder Law, Northern California Super Lawyers

2007

Super Lawyer - Elder Law, Northern California Super Lawyers

2006

Super Lawyer - Elder Law, Northern California Super Lawyers

2005

Certified Elder Law Attorney, National Elder Law Foundation

2005

AV Preeminent rating, Martindale-Hubbell.

2004

Super Lawyer, Northern California Super Lawyers

1995

Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law, State Bar of California

Work Experience

2014 - Present

Owner, Carney Elder Law

2010 - 2014

Attorney, Carney, Sugai & Sudweeks LLP

2005 - 2009

Attorney, Carney & Sugai, LLP

1993 - 2004

Attorney, Carney Law Firm

Associations

2014 - Present

Women's Long-Term Care Project

Professional Member

2001 - Present

Silicon Valley Bar Association, Trusts and Estates Section

Member

1994 - Present

National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys

member

1990 - Present

State Bar of California

Member

2009 - 2009

Silicon Valley Bar Association

President

2001 - 2001

Silicon Valley Bar Association

Founding member of board of trustees

1995 - 2012

National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (Northern California chapter)

Board Member

1991 - 2000

Santa Clara County Bar Association

Member of the Estate and Trusts section

Education

1990

Santa Clara University School of Law

1976

California State University, San Jose State University

Speaking Engagements

2014

February meeting of the California Society of CPAs Estates & Trusts Committee

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, The Good The Bad and The Ugly

2011

Belmont Village Assisted Living Facility

An Overview of Elder Law Matters

2010

Sandwich seminar for the Silicon Valley Bar Association

Veteran's Benefits

2010

Professional Fiduciary Association of Calif fall conference

Veteran's Benefits

2010

Medi-Cal basics for the Silicon Valley Bar Association

Medi-Cal

Publications

2012

Advantage Group Media Publishing Co-Author of Book: Protect Your Family! Don't Write a Blank Check to the Nur$ing Home

2010

CANHR Legal Network News Veterans Pensions vs. SSI and Medi-Cal Similarities, Differences, and Interaction

Languages

English

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