Janet L. Brewer

Janet L. Brewer is the principal of the Law Office of Janet L. Brewer, which has its headquarters in Los Altos, California.  She serves clients throughout the Bay Area and Silicon Valley. For more than 20 years, she has focused her practice on estate planning, probate matters, and trust administration, including the preparation of wills, revocable trusts, tax-sensitive trusts and gift planning. She also assists clients in the formation of family limited partnerships and limited liability companies.  She is experienced in helping non-resident aliens, visa holders, "green card" holders and other international families with planning for their US-based assets and with minimizing the impact of US estate and gift taxes on international assets.

Ms. Brewer is one of fewer than 2,000 attorneys who have been certified as a specialist in estate planning, trust and probate law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization. Highly regarded by her fellow professionals, she has achieved a "Superb" peer-review rating through Avvo and an AV Distinguished* peer-review rating through Martindale-Hubbell. Ms. Brewer is particularly skilled at assisting affluent clients with planning in an effort to minimize estate taxation.

Ms. Brewer received a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish from the University of Wisconsin and later graduated with a Juris Doctor from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. She returned to graduate school, obtaining a Master of Business Administration from Golden Gate University in 1982, and in 2010, Ms. Brewer received her Master of Laws in Taxation at Golden Gate University School of Law.

Ms. Brewer is admitted to practice law before the state courts of California. She was elected to serve as a member of the State Bar of California Board of Trustees (2015 - 2017), the governing body for all of California's 249,000 lawyers. She is a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, an organization of preeminent estate planning professionals who assist families with international estate planning issues.  Ms. Brewer has provided instruction in the certified financial planner program and has taught estate planning at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

*AV Preeminent and BV Distinguished are certification marks of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc., used in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards and policies. Martindale-Hubbell is the facilitator of a peer review rating process. Ratings reflect the confidential opinions of members of the Bar and the judiciary. Martindale-Hubbell ratings fall into two categories – legal ability and general ethical standards.