Gilfix & La Poll Associates, LLP

If you are looking for a legal firm to assist you in all areas of estate planning, you need look no further than Gilfix and La Poll. Over that past few years our family went through an extensive restructuring of our trusts in order to have our assets protected and at some point, dispersed in a manner aligned with our wishes. Michael Gilfix expertly guided us in the process, not only with his extensive knowledge, but with an understanding and compassion for us as individuals making some challenging choices. Francis La Poll handled the complex real estate issues also with great expertise. Add to this, very reasonable rates as well as their Peace of Mind program and I guarantee you will completely satisfied with what they can do for you. If there was a rating higher than five stars, I would certainly use it!

Gilfix and La Poll is my go-​to estate planning firm. I have recommended them to many, and continue to recommend them. They are easy to work with, take great care of clients, and have long and successful track record — this gives me great comfort. They know what they are talking about. They provide complete planning beyond what many other lawyers provide. It goes beyond basic trusts. It involves planning for long term care, among many other things.
They guide you through planning steps that save time, money and hassle down the road. I have seen the issues that arise when planning steps aren’t taken — you have to take steps ahead of time, and this is the firm I recommend to do it.

My brother is developmentally disabled. Michael and his associates have helped me understand SNTs and protect my brother’s interests as we navigated the confusing waters of Med-​Cal. Recently, my daughter-in-law’s family found themselves in need of an SNT in Connecticut. I called the firm on a Friday afternoon at 4:51pm, and Mark spoke with me by phone — glad to help find an attorney who is knowledgeable about SNTs in Connecticut. I am extremely confident of their knowledge of the field and so appreciative of their empathy and support.

If you are looking for professional and caring attorneys who are the Bay area’s experts in estate planning and estate law, look no further than this firm with an established reputation of excellent service to their clients. I have known Mark Gilfix since 2005, and I have found Mark to be a consummate professional who is intelligent, personable and dedicated to the best interests of his clients. Mark, his father, and the other attorneys in this firm have provided thousands of clients with sage advice and legal counsel for all issues related to the administration of estates.
Estate planning and administration is not merely a legal matter — it often involves sensitive emotional and family issues that require the counsel of a compassionate and experienced attorney who can help a family navigate these issues. Gilfix and La Poll Associates are just those kind of attorneys, and I highly recommend them and the firm to those needing these services.

In 2001, while our parents were still healthy and living in their Palo Alto home, we engaged the services of Francis LaPoll through his elder law firm for asset preservation. He created the irrevocable trusts we needed and also guided us, supported us, and always has communicated clearly with us to this day. Our parents experienced normal aging and sadly needed to be placed in skilled nursing facilities separately before they died. It was a great comfort to know that due to Francis LaPoll’s knowledge and skill with elder law well crafted legal documents and trusts served us well during the last several challenging years of our parents’ lives. Their needs were well looked after by our family and they received excellent medical care without depleting their estate.
In addition, after our parents died, we selected Francis LaPoll as our real estate broker to represent us during the sale of our parents’ home. We were amazed with his flawless marketing and negotiating skills which resulted in an unexpected and highly successful outcome.
We highly recommend Francis LaPoll as both an elder law attorney and as a real estate broker — he is excellent in both roles as well as being a fine human being.
The Three Gordon Sisters

I am proof that you cannot start planning for your future too soon! Happily, I’ve been a client of Gilfix & La Poll Associates for a couple of years. From my first discussion with Michael Gilfix to the execution of my documents, I was impressed with how easy they made it for me, especially considering these things can be a bit morbid or depressing. What I mean by easy is that I felt like each staff member and attorney I spoke with was friendly and cared about not ‘selling’ to me, but crafting a plan specific to my needs — they identified options I wasn’t aware would be pertinent for this type of thing.
The work was extremely high quality and the cost was surprisingly reasonable (compared to other attorneys I have worked with!) I also add that I really respect the work that the firm does to help families with special needs children. This is an area that does not get the respect it deserves, but they have done a lot to increase awareness and serve this community.

My family and I have been clients of Gilfix and La Poll for many years now. As we’ve recently updated our trusts, I felt moved to review their firm.
From the moment I walked into their reception area, I felt put at ease. Susie, the receptionist, was very welcoming and knew exactly who I was. I got a hot tea with some sugar and went to my meeting after only a couple of minutes.
I won’t go into detail about my meeting as it is a very personal subject, but I can say that I left Gilfix and La Poll feeling like I didn’t have to worry anymore. These lawyers have been around for years and have incredible people skills. The personal subjects were delicately and tactfully handled, and simply put, I know my family and I made the right decision to stick with them for all these years.
Highly recommend :)

Excellent and thorough job, helping with our estate planning and wills. When we moved to California years ago, we got a lot of confusing and contradictory info from others. Mike Gilfix and his staff helped cut through the confusion and set up out estate plans in accordance with California law. They brought up a lot of points we would have never known to ask, and did a great job tailoring a plan to us and our needs.
We were in our 30’s at the time, with young kids. In the years since, they have done an excellent job of keeping us current with the changes in both the law and in our personal circumstances, via their ongoing Peace Of Mind program.
I recommend them VERY highly. Very caring, knowledgeable, good folks. I wish all law firms were this good.

Our family has been with this law firm for over 20 years. We have worked with both Michael Gilfix and Francis LaPoll. They have prepared trusts for my parents, for me, and for other family members. When my parents passed away they handled all the legal and tax paperwork. They’ve done a great job for us. They have excellent legal expertise and they understand family dynamics when a parent passes away. We found them very supportive of our family decision process which at times required their patience and guidance. I have recommended this law firm to friends because of their dedication to doing the right thing for our family.

I’ve worked with Mr. Gilfix for several years and Gilfix and La Poll is, hands down, the best estate planning firm in the bay area. They explained my options in plain English and listened to my concerns. I recommend them for any estate planning issues.

We have used this firm twice –once for my patents And onve for my aunt — and would not hesitate to recommend them on all levels. They understand the minefield of senior health care and help to navigate it without any mishaps. We could not have waded through through thr required paperwork to receive our benefits that we needed. Thank you

Michael Gilfix contacted us about our prior review, expressed his regret about how we perceived the experience, and sent a full refund check. I was pleasantly surprised by the follow up and the tone of his response, and I’m now at least willing to consider that part of the problem was an honest misunderstanding or miscommunication. Maybe our initial experience was atypical, or maybe the bad review was a useful wake-​up call, but either way, perhaps there’s hope for the next client. And having found at least one service provider in the past who far outshone his Unilocal reviews, I do believe in the concept of a second chance or benefit of the doubt.
So 3 stars. With a small yellow caution flag.

I have known Michael Gilfix and his firm for several years now, and have gotten to know his family as well. He is compassionate, warm, cares deeply about his clients, and his knowledge around estate planning and elder law issues is second to none. He has written a few books on the subject and was one of the first experts in this field — and his knowledge shows. Personally, I like going to the experts who write the books that other lawyers follow! He has always been there to answer any of my or my family’s planning questions. I highly recommend this firm!

We paid Gilfix $ 10,000 to do a MedCal Trust setup. Compared to my father in law’s trust (done by Kavesh, Minor and Otis, Inc in Torrance CA) is was very difficult to follow. Also it did not include all of the necessary documents (such as a certification of trust) and instructions to title assets. We feel like we wasted $ 10,000.
That said, we later contacted Gilfix & Associates and their attorney told us the normal charge for the necessary documents is an additional $ 250. But is waiving this charge due to the misunderstanding. So at least we are feeling better about this issue.

This firm helped my parents with their estate. It is a firm with top notch, quality people. I consider Gilfix & LaPoll a standard bearer in estate planning and elder law. I originally heard Michael Gilfix from his radio appearances and after more interactions with him, it is clear to me why he is on the radio for estate planning discussions. He knows the rules and issues better than other attorneys I’ve worked with in the field — he and his staff listen, know to identify issues that other attorneys haven’t in the past, by the way, which can have huge financial implications! I’m a little surprised by negative reviews here, the firm is clear with their pricing and very much worth it, in my opinion.

My wife and i had a great experience with Gilfix, LaPoll, and Associates. We not only received excellent legal advice to set up a trust but also benefited from their distinctive expertise in preparing a Family Protection Trust to ensure that our daughter retains the benefits. Talented Elderlaw and Trusts & Estates attorneys are not a dime a dozen. The payoff in terms of direct financial benefits and peace of mind are huge.
Mike Gilfix appears occasionally with Len Tillem on KGO. If you haven’t met Mike, i encourage you to listen to one of the segments or attend a seminar. You will hear and experience the wisdom and deep caring that he and his firm brings to this work.
I’ve had the opportunity to see the work of the best people in this field. Gilfix, LaPoll & Associates is nationally recognized as being at the top of the field.

I had a very positive experience with this firm. Was referred to them by a good friend in the bay area, and their recommendation was well founded. They did a great job educating us on the issues we faced around estate planning, medicare and long term healthcare issues, very complex and intimidating things to talk about, and stuff that really worried us — like «how are we going to make sure we don’t lose the family house if someone gets sick?» Not fun topics, but they helped us deal with our worries. They communicated it simply, answered our «dumb» questions, and really listend to us, and helped us develop a plan that made my family and I feel more secure about our future. What more can you ask for from an elder law firm? Both Gilfix and LaPoll did a great job listening to us and their staff was really a pleasure to work with.
These are the type of high stakes issues you want to go to the best for, and in my experience they are the best in their field. I’ve already recommended them to a couple of my friends, even those that don’t live in the immediate area, and absolutely recommend them here.

First off, Unilocal seems like an odd place to review lawyers. But I’m writing this anyway: p
My parents and I went to Gilfix & LaPoll for some estate planning issues this spring, part of it was cleaning up some mistakes made by a previous attorney (who shall not be named). Worked with Michael Gilfix and LaPoll — whose first name I can’t remember right now.
Anyway, we had a very positive experience. They were professional, knew their stuff backwards and forwards — I think they literally wrote the books that other lawyers follow — were proactive — they knew the right questions to ask — and followed up promptly. I didn’t know much about this stuff going in, but Michael Gilfix and Mr. LaPoll both took time to educate us (or most importantly my parents) and came up with a fix for our previous issues, and a strategy going forward. They took time to make sure we were OK with everything.
Excellent, professional place. I’m sure you can find cheaper, but I doubt you can find better. We actually walked out of our meeting feeling pretty good about things — something rare after seeing lawyers (!)
Highly recommended.

When my previous estate attorney moved out of California (I still miss her — *sob*) and our situation warranted an update, I utilized the services of attorneys Michael Gilfix and Barbara Loebner for legal and financial matters for family members (one elder, one disabled).
The intricately complex field of elder law is fraught with landmines and traps for anyone, from the unwary to the schooled. Even though I have financial and legal experience from past jobs, volunteer activities, and lots of Nolo Press books, I couldn’t do all this on my own.
While the attorneys are knowledgeable and proactive, I was not happy with the ginormous flat-​rate fee for their package of services and the lack of response after the initial work was done. In fact, they sent me a bill after some follow-​up phone conversations, which I successfully challenged based on their promotion of their flat-​rate fee as «all-​inclusive, forever.»
The documents have been done, the trusts set, yet over a year later I feel a sense of unease that I can’t shake. If I had to do it all over again, I would have shopped around a bit more for my replacement estate attorney.