Concrete strategies for portfolios, taxes, estates, and charitable giving—built for volatile markets and evolving laws.
Why Read This
California attorneys advising high-net-worth clients, founders, and executives will find practical, ready-to-apply guidance to turn volatility into opportunity.
What's Inside
1. The Current Climate
Today’s economic pressures—from global instability to interest rate swings and uneven sector growth—demand calm, strategic guidance to help clients protect portfolios and business valuations.
2. Portfolio & Tax Moves
Attorneys can help clients stay disciplined through diversification and rebalancing, use tax-loss harvesting to offset gains, and seize opportunities for Roth conversions while asset values are low.
3. Estate Opportunities
Down markets make it possible to gift depressed assets and use grantor trusts with swap powers to remove future appreciation from taxable estates and preserve generational wealth.
4. Planning Through Legislative Uncertainty
Flexible strategies—like wait-and-see trusts, promissory notes, and trust protectors—help clients adapt to shifting tax laws without costly plan overhauls.
5. Charitable Giving & GRATs
Donating appreciated assets or using charitable remainder trusts can defer gains while generating income, and GRATs allow clients to transfer growth gift-tax efficiently with minimal downside risk.
6. Best Practices for Advisors
In uncertain times, the most trusted attorneys stay calm, collaborate with financial experts, and tailor communication while planning for flexibility and California-specific nuances such as property-tax reassessment and community property step-up.
Insights from the Experts
This paper distills strategies from seasoned Bay Area wealth strategists Mara Mahana and David Oh, who routinely guide clients through periods of macroeconomic chaos, tax code changes, and those anxious “what do I do now?” calls after a market wobble.
They share how to elevate legal advice into strategic counsel—not just interpreting the law, but translating volatility into structure, clarity, and actionable steps that help clients move from uncertainty to confidence.
Mara Mahana
David Oh
Insights from the Experts
This paper distills strategies from seasoned Bay Area wealth strategists Mara Mahana and David Oh, who routinely guide clients through periods of macroeconomic chaos, tax code changes, and those anxious “what do I do now?” calls after a market wobble.
They share how to elevate legal advice into strategic counsel—not just interpreting the law, but translating volatility into structure, clarity, and actionable steps that help clients move from uncertainty to confidence.
Mara Mahana
