Matthew O'Donnell

Matthew O'Donnell has been an estate planning attorney for 27 years with offices throughout the Bay Area. His firm, O'DONNELL & ASSOCIATES, limits its practice to clients who seek help with asset preservation, probate avoidance, estate tax minimization and long-term-care benefits. Matt has helped more than 3,000 families plan their estates. Although Matt began his legal career as a litigator, his charitable work with senior organizations soon inspired him to transform his practice to exclusively helping individuals, spouses, partners and families manage their complex and personal estate planning issues. His firm emphasizes “life planning” to prevent Court intrusion and control in the event of incapacity and to protect the estates of surviving spouses, partners and children from creditors, predators and marital conflicts. He also helps special needs, disabled, and elderly clients with public-benefits planning. He is a member emeritas of the Board of Directors for California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform and is in his sixteenth year as a core instructor for CANHR’s state-wide attorney elder law conferences. He has lectured for the California Continuing Education of the Bar, Family Caregiver Alliance, Senior Focus, Alzheimer’s Association, Kaiser Hospital and the Northern California Probate Examiners Association; and teaches at San Mateo, Canada, Skyline, De Anza and Mission Junior Colleges. He is contract attorney for the Family Caregivers Alliance. Specialties: Matt is certified by the California State Bar Board of Legal Specialization as a Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law and a frequent lecturer and teaches seminars on estate planning and elder law to fellow attorneys, professionals and the general public.