About the Authors
MARGARET M. HAND (Chapters 1, 2, 4–13, and 15) is a partner with the firm Hartog, Baer & Hand in Orinda, California, and has been serving trust and probate clients in the Bay Area since 1993. Ms. Hand is a certified specialist in estate planning, trust, and probate law, and is a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC). She specializes in probate and trust administration, as well as conservatorships and guardianships. In addition, she teaches fiduciary accounting for the CalCPA Education Foundation. Ms. Hand received her undergraduate degree from the University of California, San Diego, and her J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law.
HEATHER HAMILTON (Chapter 3, “Preparing the Accounting, Step by Step”) is a principal of Fiduciary Accounting Services, LLC in Moraga. Prior to co-founding the firm in 2007, she had a 15-year career in banking, primarily serving privately held and family-owned businesses and technology companies. She is a graduate of the California State University at Chico, with a degree in Finance. She is a member of the Diablo Valley Estate Planning Council, and has served on the board of the Junior League of Oakland-East Bay, the Cancer Support Community, and the Contra Costa Ballet Foundation. She specializes in preparing accountings for trusts, estates, and conservatorships, and is widely regarded as one of the Bay Area’s most knowledgeable and skillful practitioners of this type of accounting.
DON EDWARD GREEN (Chapter 14, “Conflicts and Litigation”) received his B.A. in 1973 from California State University, Long Beach, and his J.D. in 1976 and LL.M. (Taxation) in 1983 from McGeorge Law School. He retired in 2010, having served as the Probate Commissioner, Contra Costa Superior Court, and formerly having served as probate staff attorney, Sacramento Superior Courts, from 1989 to 1998. Before working for the court, Mr. Green practiced law as a certified specialist in estate planning, trust, and probate law (suspended while serving as a judicial officer). He is a former chair of the California State Bar Trusts and Estates Section, served as an Executive Committee member for 10 years, and served as Judicial Liaison to that section. He also served as a member of the Judicial Council of California Probate and Mental Health Advisory Committee. Mr. Green is a frequent lecturer and speaker for CEB, PLI, CJER, sections of the State Bar of California, county bar associations, and various community groups and charities. He was named Pro Bono Judge of the Year 2003 by the Contra Costa County Bar Association.
About the 2018 Update Author
MARGARET M. HAND, author of chapters 1, 2, 4–13, and 15 in the first edition of this book, is the author of the 2018 update, including a rewritten chapter 14. She is a principal with the firm Hartog, Baer & Hand in Orinda, California, and has been serving trust and probate clients in the Bay Area since 1993. Ms. Hand is a certified specialist in estate planning, trust, and probate law, and is a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC). She specializes in probate and trust administration, as well as conservatorships and guardianships. In addition, she teaches fiduciary accounting for the CalCPA Education Foundation. Ms. Hand received her undergraduate degree from the University of California, San Diego, and her J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law.