Practice Areas

In today's legal environment, matching your needs with the correct firm is crucial to the successful outcome of your legal matters. Like so many other areas, in law, the pace of change can be "breakneck," the details overwhelming.

As an informed consumer of legal services, you need to be sure that the firm you select is in fact qualified to handle the matter at hand. Today, that's more important than ever.

To that end, below are brief descriptions of the types of matters we successfully handle. We have made a solid commitment to these areas of the law so that we can assure you the best possible legal representation.

Estate Planning

Clients can control the allocation of accumulated assets both before and after death through careful planning for the distribution of property to family members. We deal with the complex network of laws governing gifts, estates and trusts and we use that knowledge to help clients fulfill their short and long-term goals. Available areas of representation include:

Simple and Complex Will Creation
Establishment of Revocable, Irrevocable and Charitable Trusts
Structure of Family Limited Partnerships
Estate and Gift Tax Review
Estate and Probate Administration
Business Succession and Liquidity Planning
Conservatorships and Guardianships

For clients interested in maintaining management and control of their estate, while at the same time avoiding probate, protecting family members, ensuring their financial privacy, and obtaining peace of mind, we offer basic estate plans which include revocable living trusts, pour-over wills, powers of attorney for property management, advance health care directives, special needs trusts, children's trusts, and community property agreements.

For clients interested in minimizing the impact of transfer taxes on their estate, we offer simple estate tax savings and asset protection strategies, such as credit shelter trusts and qualified terminal interest property (QTIP) trusts, to more sophisticated transfer tax savings and asset protection strategies, including the use of family limited partnerships, family limited liability companies, buy-sell agreements, estate freeze and valuation discount strategies, charitable remainder and charitable lead trusts, qualified personal residence trusts, irrevocable life insurance trusts, dynasty trusts, grantor retained income trusts, qualified domestic trusts (QDOT), and qualified Sub-S trusts (QSST), among others.

Probate & Estate Administration

We handle all aspects of Probate and Estate Administration for estates. Probate is the legal process by which a person's will is allowed by the Probate Court. The provisions of the will dictate how the individual's debts are paid and assets are distributed upon death. Estate Administration includes the probate process as well as non-probate transfers of the deceased's assets, such as life insurance, annuities, qualified plans, and trust assets and compliance with applicable estate tax requirements. We assist the personal representative of the estate in the gathering, valuation, accounting and distribution of the decedent's assets. We prepare federal and state estate tax returns as well as the appropriate documents in order to release liens on a decedent's real estate. It is our responsibility to assure that all steps are properly taken in order to carry out the decedent's intent in accordance with the law.

Real Estate Transactions

Our firm performs real estate transactional work for a number of mortgage lenders, title companies, builders, real estate brokers, and private individuals. We assist with the purchase and sale of real estate, including negotiating and drafting purchase agreements and other documents, ensuring good title, and closings. Our experienced attorneys also assist our clients with the legal aspects of financing, re-financing, and foreclosures.

Property Management Law

Patrick Stacker has been an attorney assisting Real Estate Companies in all aspects of Property Management and Real Estate Ownership issues including Purchase and Sale Agreements, Leases, Cell Tower Agreements, and all of the vendor/contractor agreements including laundry, cable, and rehabilitation and construction contracts. He has also worked on closing many loans for numerous clients including Investment Development Services, LMS Real Estate Investment Management, Avison and Young, and other institutional owners.

Business Organizations

The form of business chosen for a business entity potentially affects every aspect of its operations. Our firm assists our clients in formation and business planning in deciding whether they want to operate as a closely held business, limited liability company, partnership, or corporation. We advise our clients about directors' and officers' liability, dissolution, franchising, reorganization, trade association membership and activity, joint ventures, mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, business successions, shareholder's agreements, and shareholders' rights.

Workers Compensation

Stacker & Associates specializes in the defense of workers’ compensation matters for both self-insured employers and insurance companies. The firm represents self-insured employers (mainly municipalities) and insurance companies in Southern California. Since its founding, the firm has specialized in the defense of their Workers’ Compensation matters, as well as in defense of Labor Code §132a actions and claims for Serious and Willful Misconduct. The firm covers all of the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Boards throughout Southern California, from San Diego to Oxnard.

Workers Compensation Practice founded in 2007
Specializing in workers’ compensation matters
Covering all workers compensation appeals boards
Representing Municipalities, Businesses & Insurance Companies

Alternative Dispute Resolution

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) is the process of resolving legal conflicts without going to trial. Our firm is in the forefront of this area, working with clients on arbitration, mediation, and facilitation. We have extensive expertise in determining when a form of ADR is in the best interest of clients and meets their needs better than traditional litigation. We have substantial experience and training in ADR and routinely advise our clients on the legal consequences flowing from particular terms and conditions of all ADR options.

Business & Commercial Law

We provide a wide variety of services to our business clients from assisting in selecting the type of organizational entity under which to operate, preparation of agreements, sale and purchase of businesses, obtaining financing and funding for business operations, negotiating real estate and software contracts, advising on employee relations policy, and dissolution. We are also highly experienced in business and commercial litigation on a state and federal level.