Golnar Yazdi

Practice Areas

For more than 30 years, Golnar has been a trusted advisor to high-net-worth families and individuals. She uses sophisticated estate planning strategies to help clients achieve their personal and business wealth transfer objectives while minimizing the impact of estate, gift, income and generation‑skipping taxes.

Golnar counsels her clients on a wide range of estate planning matters, including inter-generational dynastic planning, charitable planning, planning for overseas holdings and cross-border matters, estate and gift tax issues and the administration of trusts and probate estates.

She has been selected by her peers to the Northern California Super Lawyers® list (2009-2023), the Northern California Super Lawyers® Top 100 list (2014-2016), and the Northern California Super Lawyers® Top 50 Women list (2012-2016).

Professional Memberships

*State Bar of California | Trusts & Estates Section | International Law Section | Taxation Section

*San Mateo County Bar Association | Estate Planning/Probate Section

*San Francisco Estate Planning Council

*Peninsula Estate Planning Council

*Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP)

*Heritage Bank | Peninsula/Stanford Advisory Board

Personal

*Peninsula Family Service | Current Member of Advisory Council & Former Board Member

*Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County | Current Member of Advisory Committee & Former Board President

*Lick-Wilmerding High School | Former Board Member

*Mills-Peninsula Hospital Foundation | Former Board Member

Work Highlights

*Intergenerational trust planning in California and other jurisdictions

*Estate and gift tax issues

*Preparation of Gift and Estate Tax returns

*Gift and Estate Tax Audits

*Estate planning for blended families

*Revocable and irrevocable trusts

*Charitable planning

*Family limited partnerships and limited liability companies

*Qualified domestic trusts for nonresident spouses

*Overseas holdings and related cross border issues

*Administration of trusts and probate estates

Experience

*Wealth and transfer tax planning for U.S. residents and nonresident aliens to minimize estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer taxes.

*Revocable and irrevocable trusts including intergenerational dynastic gift planning in California and other jurisdictions.

*Gift planning, including direct gifting, irrevocable grantor trusts, grantor retained annuity trusts, qualified personal residence trusts and charitable trusts.

*Preparation of gift tax returns and defense during IRS audits.

*Planning for clients with overseas holdings and related cross border issues.

*Planning with family limited partnerships and limited liability companies.

*Advising fiduciaries (corporate and individuals) during the administration of trusts or estates.

*Estate and trust administration, including the preparation of Federal Estate Tax Returns.

*Preparation of estate tax returns and defense during IRS audits.

Awards