Christopher D. Carico is a board certified specialist in estate planning, trust, and probate law with over 30 years of legal experience. His practice includes all facets of trusts and estates, and he represents families, individuals, professional trustees, conservators, guardians, and beneficiaries.
Mr. Carico is one of a handful of California attorneys with expertise in both the estate tax planning and litigation components of trust and estate law. Because of this dual expertise, Mr. Carico is able to design estate planning instruments that can stand up to the closest scrutiny and challenge others’ instruments from the ground level up.
Mr. Carico divides his time between: (1) representing beneficiaries and fiduciaries in dispute resolution, will contests, trusts contests, contested conservatorship, Marvin claims, financial elder abuse actions, challenged accountings, fiduciary surcharge and removal actions, property characterization disputes, and 850 petitions; and (2) counseling clients on advanced estate planning techniques including family limited partnership, family limited liability companies, designated beneficiary trusts, grantor retained annuity and unitrusts, qualified personal residence trusts, intentionally defective grantor trusts, charitable remainder trusts, charitable foundations, self-cancelling installment notes, and life insurance trusts.
Mr. Carico has frequently served as a court-appointed expert to provide his opinions and recommendations to the probate court in the following types of actions: trust reformation proceedings, fiduciary accountings, actions for breach of fiduciary duty, actions for fiduciary suspension and removal, fee petitions, and compromise of creditors’ claims.
Committed to helping individuals resolve trust and estate disputes as quickly and efficiently as possible, Mr. Carico consistently volunteers time as a mediator on the various Court-sponsored pro bono probate mediation panels, and is currently acting as a volunteer Probate Settlement Officer on Los Angeles County Superior Court’s Probate Settlement Conference Panel. Mr. Carico also serves on the Executive Committee for the Trust and Estate Section of the State Bar of California.Mr. Carico graduated with a J.D. cum laude, from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, where he was a member of the Order of the Coif. He obtained his B.A in economics from Occidental College.
His previous affiliations include Carico Johnson Toomey LLP (2008-2017), Carico Toomey & Associates LLP (2007-2008), Davis & Carico LLP (1996 – 2007), Law Offices of Christopher D. Carico (1990 – 1996), and Mullen & Henzell (1989 – 1990).
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