Heather L. Boshears

Practice Overview

Heather Boshears represents individuals, corporate trustees, and professional fiduciaries in the areas of estate planning and trust administration. She is a specialist in estate planning, trust, and probate law, certified by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization, and a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) licensed by the State of Colorado Board of Accountancy.

Heather guides estate planning clients in developing foundational and complex plans. She explains ways to transfer assets to loved ones and charities, protections that can be built in, and the income and transfer taxes at play. Heather considers her clients’ personal values and circumstances in offering strategies tailored to achieve their goals. She works with clients’ advisors, including CPAs and financial advisors, to carry out plans. She is experienced in advanced techniques including irrevocable life insurance trusts (ILITs), grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs), and sales to intentionally defective grantor trusts (IDGTs).

In trust administration matters, Heather assists trustees in navigating the duties, responsibilities, and legal requirements of a fiduciary. She counsels clients to comply with California and federal law and to manage risks. Heather is sensitive to the emotional aspects that can arise following a death while keeping focus on the duties owed to trust beneficiaries.

Heather aims to resolve disputes outside of court. She has experience with matters involving accountings, breach of fiduciary duties, suspension and removal of trustees, lack of capacity, undue influence, financial elder abuse, and the validity of marriage.

Heather is an active community leader. She completed Leadership San Jose, a civic leadership program provided by the San Jose Chamber of Commerce that exposes emerging leaders to issues that impact the city’s economic prosperity and quality of life. She volunteers in the probate division of the Superior Court of California. She is a current board member of the Santa Clara County Estate Planning Council and a past co-chair of the San Mateo County Bar Association’s Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Section. Heather served as treasurer and board member of Junior League San Jose, a charitable nonprofit organization of women developing as civic leaders and making an impact on the San Jose community. She supports organizations advancing animal welfare, works at the San Francisco SPCA as an adoptions counselor, and advocates in Sacramento with the Humane World for Animals (formerly Humane Society of the U.S.). Heather participates in Bay Area road runs and an occasional half marathon.

Heather is originally from Louisiana. She attended LSU where she studied finance, accounting, commercial banking, and philosophy. Heather moved to San Francisco to join PricewaterhouseCoopers in the peak of the dot-com boom.

Practice Areas

• Estates and Trusts
• Taxation
• Trust and Estate Litigation

Education

• J.D., University of San Francisco School of Law
• B.S., Louisiana State University, Finance Major, Philosophy Minor, Commercial Banking Concentration

Admissions

• Certified Public Accountant (CPA) licensed by the State of Colorado Board of Accountancy
• California State Bar
• Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law as certified by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization
• U.S. District Court, Northern District of California
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit