Top Best Estate Lawyers | 14177 Available

J. Porter DeVries began his career at the Wall Street firm of Segal Gebski, where he represented clients encountering construction, business, real estate, and international disputes.. With Condominium and Community Association clients, Porter focuses on enabling Boards of Directors to establish and maintain the highest standards of good governance.  Underscoring the firm’s proactive approach, he leads DeVries’ preventative counseling and strategic planning services, as well as ensuring that Boards are legally protected in disputes and thrive in the myriad aspects of governing Hawaii’s diverse associations.. Leading the firm’s Real Estate and Commercial Litigation sector, Porter routinely handles commercial lease disputes, real property disputes, partnership disputes, title disputes, construction defect litigation, condominium association and planned community association disputes, sale and acquisition disputes, and other related commercial and business disputes.. Mr. DeVries co-founded DeVries & Associates to serve the unique needs of boards and clients in keeping pace with the demands and changes in community association governance. His practice focuses on condominium and community association law; as well as commercial and real estate litigation.. Porter is a member of the West Hawaii Bar Association, Hawaii State Bar Association, American Bar Association, and the New York State Bar Association. Porter is an active member of Hawaii Community Association Institute. He serves on the Board of Directors for Pacific Jet, Inc., Kuleana Education, Inc., and Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce.

The legal profession is working and listening to the concerns of your clients and using your best judgement, developed through time, experience and ability to help them.

Michelle Tucker specializes in the concerns of clients ages 55 and older who are either in retirement or planning for retirement. She is well-versed in all of the critical aspects of retirement—wealth management, taxes, estate and long-term care planning and providing legacies for loved ones. As the co-founder and partner of the firm of Sterling & Tucker for over 25 years, she has helped families make the best choices for their retirement, grow and preserve assets, save on taxes, and then be able to pass their wealth as efficiently as possible to the next generation.. Have you accumulated enough to retire and be financially independent, and how do you manage your finances so that you will not outlive your resources? If you are like most people, you will retire only once, and mistakes in this process can be extremely costly. How often do you do something perfectly, when it's the first time you have ever done it? By establishing a long-term relationship with Michelle, she can help manage your financial life not just when you retire, but for the rest of your life.. Most people want to minimize taxes. If you could be paying less income tax annually, Michelle will know it. In addition, she will help you avoid potentially huge estate taxes, income tax on IRAs, retirement distributions and inherited IRAs. She'll help you make the most of your assets so you can enjoy what you've built over a lifetime and have a successful retirement. As life progresses, she'll be a resource and guide for important decisions concerning your long-term care and the best ways to leave your wealth to those you love.. Ms. Tucker is an estate planning attorney, a Certified Financial Planner, a CPA/Personal Financial Specialist, and a Registered Financial Consultant. Her professional capabilities together with the wisdom gained from over 30 years in practice, combine to bring positive change to the lives of her clients.. She is the first attorney in Hawaii to be certified by the American Bar Association (ABA) accredited Estate Law Specialists Board, Inc., as an Estate Planning Law Specialist, and is so certified by the Supreme Court of Hawaii. The Supreme Court grants Hawaii certification only to lawyers in good standing who have successfully completed a specialty program accredited by the ABA.. Ms. Tucker is an American Bar Foundation Fellow and a Charter Member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, and a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. She belongs to both the Hawaii State and American Bar Associations. She belongs to the Hawaii Society of CPAs and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants as well as the Forensic Accountants Society of North America and the American College of Financial Planners.. She contributes to local news publications, is a sought-after public speaker and has co-authored three books; "Guiding Those Left Behind", "Total Wealth Management", and "Estate Planning Basics in Hawaii".. Ms. Tucker attended the University of Hawaii at Manoa and received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in 1977 and a Juris Doctor from William S. Richardson School of Law in 1981. As a student, she received numerous local and national awards, and credits much of her success to her teachers at McKinley High School, and professors at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.. Ms. Tucker is the mother of four children and spends her free time exploring Hawaii's breath-taking coastlines and mountain ranges.

In April of 2014, I formed Hawaii Trust & Estate Counsel, with Randall Roth, of Counsel, and associate W. Kumu Belcher.  Prior to Hawaii Trust & Estate Counsel, I spent six years with Hastings Laun & Roth.  I was also associated with Case Lombardi & Pettit, on Oahu.. Our firm concentrates on estate planning, which ranges from simple wills to complex tax planning.  We take the time to get to know our clients as people and to understand their goals and concerns.  This makes it possible for us to provide a personalized estate plan that provides peace of mind for each client.  Documentation is important, but equally important is the client's understanding and level of comfort with the entire estate planning process.  We have offices in Hilo, Kamuela, and Kona and regularly meet with clients in Oahu.. I grew up on Oahu where I graduated with honors from Punahou Academy.  In 2003 I earned a B.S. degree in Business Communications from the University of Kansas (Phi Beta Kappa), and, then in 2007, joint J.D. and M.B.A. degrees from the William S. Richardson School of Law and Shidler College of Business at the University of Hawai`i–Manoa.. In addition to practicing estate planning, education has always been important to me.  I have taught Estate Planning as an adjunct law professor at the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawai`i–Manoa, and occasionally lecture in several other law courses there.  At the University of Hawai`i–Hilo, I periodically teach the Business Law course.  I also enjoy speaking at seminars for lawyers and other professionals in the areas of estate planning, probate administration, law firm management, and legal ethics.  My publications include co-authorship of the Hawaii State Bar Association’s Estate Planning Forms Manual (2012) and Hawaii law section of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) Report, Comparison of Domestic Asset Protection Trust Statutes (2014).. I have served as president of the Young Lawyers Division of the Hawaii State Bar Association and am currently an officer of the HSBA’s Estate Planning Section.  I am a past president of the Rotary Club of North Hawaii and currently serve on the boards of the Parker School and North Hawaii Hospice; and on the advisory board for the West Hawaii Fund of the Hawaii Community Foundation.

Clients hire professional representatives in order to achieve the best possible results for their situation. Luke Korkowski has spent decades building his knowledge base and honing his skills for just this purpose.. Luke has served as a law clerk to an esteemed Associate Justice of the Montana Supreme Court, represented several small to mid-sized businesses in myriad transactions, and advised numerous clients regarding all manner of real property matters.. In addition to his legal advisory work, Luke has served as Chief Operating Officer of a Hawaii-based textile manufacturing startup, volunteered with Junior Achievement, served as a financial professional, and started and invested in a number of small businesses.. Being a jack of all trades, Luke is a REALTOR-ASSOCIATE®, a business consultant, and a small business investor in addition to being a practicing attorney.. Luke employs the skills gained from all of these endeavors to maximize client satisfaction with respect to their goals. He takes great personal joy in executing a professional plan on behalf of his clients and guiding them to success.

I am an associate attorney with Hawaii Trust & Estate Counsel and work primarily out of our Hilo office.. I was born and raised in Hilo, where I graduated from Hilo High School and the University of Hawai`i–Hilo, with a degree in cell and molecular biology.  Prior to entering law school, I served as an East Hawaii Ocean Safety Officer and worked in special education at Hilo High School.  I received my law degree from the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawai`i–Manoa in 2013, where I was a member of the Environmental Law Society.  While a law student, I spent one year interning at the First Circuit Court, Probate Division, for the honorable Judge Derek H.M. Chan.

Given the demographics in the Kona-Kohala-West Hawaii regions, my office is called upon regularly to handle complex and sophisticated estate planning, real estate, trust and estate, and business transactions.  Michelle in my office rivals any paralegal statewide, particularly in understanding Hawaii's complicated real estate deeds, and recording systems.  I have the pleasure of dealing with high net worth clients, and execs and CEO's who split their time between Hawaii and the mainland.  We are known for our ability to act swiftly in transactions, corporation or LLC formation, probates and real estate matters.  In between all of the legal work, we find the golf course, stand-up paddleboarding, photography and running among some of the most beautiful island landscapes in the world.

DONNA V. PAYESKO is Ohana Legacy Law. Donna began her law career in 1999 with Cole, Schotz, Meisel, Forman & Leonard, P.A. a large metropolitan New Jersey law firm where she coordinated the firm’s estate administration practice of 200+ probate matters.  After relocating to Hawaii in 2007, Donna was associated with the law firms of Jung & Vassar, P.C. and Darl C. Gleed & Associates.. A passion to counsel her clients to a place of peace of mind is what led Donna to found Ohana Legacy Law in 2016. Donna prides herself on consistently offering a personalized approach to every case, and always strives to build long term relationships with her clients.. Donna is active in the local West Hawaii community - she is a member of the Fire Commission of the County of Hawaii, the Chair of the Advisory Board for the West Hawaii Fund of the Hawaii Community Foundation and attends Shorebreak Church. She frequently speaks to Big Island community groups about estate planning and elder law issues, and volunteers her legal expertise with the Legal Aid Society of Hawaii and the Kona Self Help Legal Center. She also is a past President of the West Hawaii Bar Association.. Donna's most important calling is her family - her husband Rob, and their children Alex and Anna.  Donna enjoys organic gardening, growing food and cooking for her family.

Jennifer Shimada Heimgartner is the owner of Shimada Estate Planning LLLC.  She has been in practice since 2009, and she started her firm in 2015.  Before starting her firm, she worked as an associate for a leading Konaestate planning law firm.. She focuses on providing individualized and customized estate planning solutions to her clients.. Jennifer also provides probate administration services to her clients, whether informal probate or formal probate.  She also has experience in contested probate matters.

Cynthia is the founding member of Kauai Estate Law, LLLC, where she now practices in partnership with Katherine A. Caswell. Cynthia is licensed to practice law in Hawaii and New York, and is a member of the Kauai Bar Association, the Probate and Estate Planning section of the Hawaii State Bar Association, and WealthCounsel. Cynthia graduated from Cornell Law School, magna cum laude, in 1992. She was a court attorney and confidential legal assistant to two highly respected New York State justices for 16 years. In these positions Cynthia gained a strong knowledge of courtroom procedure and litigation strategy and tactics, and honed her legal research and writing skills. She was sought out as an expert in these areas by many attorneys in the upstate New York area, before she relocated to Hawaii in 2008.  Cynthia received the American Jurisprudence award for outstanding performance in an Estate Planning practicum, and focused her legal studies in the areas of taxation and business law.  Since relocating to Kauai and opening Kauai Estate Law in 2008, Cynthia has limited her practice to the areas of Estate Planning, Probate, and Trust Law. By focusing on these areas of the law, Cynthia is able to stay abreast of the complex and constantly changing laws and rulings that govern the administration and taxation of trusts and estates.. Cynthia lives in Wailua Homesteads with her husband Guy, who builds and repairs musical instruments, and extended family. In her spare time, she enjoys being a mentor for Kauai's island-wide high school FIRST robotics team, the Kauaibots, and a director of the Kauai Robotics Alliance and Kauai Hospice.  She also likes to hike, run, scuba dive, sew and garden.

I am a solo practitioner, who prides myself in providing excellent legal services, at a reasonable cost, and in a casual setting. In my spare time I enjoy surfing, gardening, and spending time with family, friends, and pets.