Overview

Christopher D. Carico is Partner & Co-Chair of the Estate Planning, Probate and Trusts Department.

Chris is a board-certified specialist in estate planning, trust, and probate law with 35 years of legal experience. His practice includes all facets of trusts and estates, and he represents families, individuals, professional trustees, conservators, guardians, and beneficiaries.

Chris has a wealth of experience in both the estate tax planning and litigation components of trust and estate law. Because of this dual expertise, Mr. Carico designs estate planning instruments that can stand up to the closest scrutiny, and he knows how to challenge others’ instruments from the ground level up.

Chris divides his time between: (1) representing beneficiaries and fiduciaries in dispute resolution, will and trust contests, financial elder abuse actions, fiduciary surcharge, removal and accounting litigation,  and property characterization disputes; and (2) counseling clients on advanced estate planning techniques including family limited partnership, family limited liability companies, designated beneficiary trusts, qualified personal residence trusts, intentionally defective grantor trusts, and life insurance trusts.

Chris 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, Chris 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. Chris served from 2014 through 2018 on the Executive Committee for the Trust and Estate Section of the State Bar of California, now the statewide California Lawyers Association.

Honors & Affiliations

Honors & Recognitions

Best Lawyers in America®, Trusts & Estates, 2010–2026

Best Lawyers in America®, Litigation – Trusts & Estates, 2011–2026

Southern California Super Lawyers® Top 100 Southern California Lawyers, 2021–2026

Southern California Super Lawyers®, Estate & Trust Litigation, 2009–2026

Southern California Super Lawyers®, Estate Planning & Probate, 2009–2026

La Business Journal, Top 100 Lawyers, 2026

Martindale Hubbell Rating, AV, 1998–2025

Los Angeles County Bar Association Trial Advocacy Project, Graduate Volunteer Prosecutor: 2003

California State Bar, Board of Legal Specialization, certified specialist in Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law, 1994–2025

Media & Events

Publications

  • The Folstein Mini-Mental State Exam:  Just How Useful is it for Assessing Capacity,
    Issue 1, Volume 24, California Trusts & Estates Quarterly, 05.2018
  • Remedies for Financial Elder Abuse,
    Issue 2, Volume 22, California Trusts & Estates Quarterly, 2016
  • Fiduciaries (And Others) Beware – An Over-Reaching Release May be Voidable,
    Issue 4, Volume 21, California Trusts & Estates Quarterly, 2015
  • Bringing Beneficiaries to the Mediation Table:  Drafting Enforceable Trust Provisions Requiring Mediation of Disputes During Post-Death Trust Administration,
    Issue 2, Volume 20, California Trusts & Estates Quarterly, 2014
  • Escaping the LPS Revolving Door,
    Issue 1, Volume 16, California Trusts & Estates Quarterly, 2010
  • Satisfying the UPIA through Professional Investment Advice and the Creation of the Investment Policy Statement,
    Issue 4, Volume 13, California Trusts & Estates Quarterly, 2008

Speaking Engagements

  • Wealth Wednesday: Estate Planning & Addressing Capacity Concerns 2025,
    Online Seminar, California Society of Certified Public Accountants, 06.18.2025
  • Enforceable Releases:  Protecting Your Trustee Clients:
    Online Webinar, Orange County Bar Association, 06.14.2023
  • Overview of Financial Elder Abuse:
    Online Webinar; 4th Annual Financial Elder Abuse Symposium, California Lawyer’s Association., 05.20.2022
  • Funding Trusts; Trusts and Estates 101:  The Nuts and Bolts, Part 2,
    Part 2, Online Webinar Series Pincus Professional Education, 03.03.2022
  • Powers of Attorney; Trusts and Estates 101:  The Nuts and Bolts, Part 2,
    Online Webinar Series Pincus Professional Education, 03.03.2022
  • Probate Court’s Power to Help Sufferers of Mental Illness:  Should Antipsychotic Medication Still be Taboo, Probate Attorneys of Pasadena Annual Symposium,
    12.04.2020
  • Removal of Fiduciaries and Accounting Litigation, Probate Litigation 101:  The Nuts and Bolts, Part II,
    Online Webinar Series Pincus Professional Education, 11.12.2020
  • Statutory Deadlines Probate Litigation 101:  The Nuts and Bolts, Part I,
    Online Webinar Series Pincus Professional Education, 11.10.2020
  • The Initial Client/Family Interview: Detecting Potential Abuse and Undue Influence Before it Happens, California Lawyers Association, Second Annual Financial Elder Abuse Symposium,
    Los Angeles, California, 03.29.2019
  • Estate Planning Tips to Avoid Financial Elder Abuse, California Lawyers Association, First Annual Financial Elder Abuse Symposium,
    Indian Wells, California, 04.20.2018
  • Removal of Fiduciaries and Accounting Litigation, Probate Litigation 101:  The Nuts and Bolts, Pincus Professional Education,
    Los Angeles, California, 11.10.2017

Education

J.D., Loyola Law School, cum laude, Order of the Coif

B.A., Occidental College

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