What do the German techno-pop band Alphaville and Johnny Rico from Starship Troopers have in common? Well, aside from being totally awesome, they both asked the question: do you want to live forever? Even if your answer is yes, it's not a realistic expectation - and that's why you need an excellent estate planning attorney like Marina Vinsky. Planning our estate is something that had been on our to-do list for a long time, but we never took the time to work on this in earnest. Early on, we considered a do-it-yourself approach using books that we purchased in 2004, but they sat on our shelf for most of the last fifteen years, the binding barely cracked. Even though these books promised an easy and inexpensive solution, it was still so confusing to us that we never got started. Flash forward to this past summer, when an unexpected death in the family reminded us again of the ephemeral nature of our own existence and the need to provide for the care and support of our family in the event of an untimely demise. It was time to act. We solicited recommendations from several of our friends, and Marina was one who came highly recommended. We contacted her and received a response almost immediately, and within a week or so we sat down for our first meeting in her office in San Jose. Marina is at once very friendly, caring, and highly knowledgeable. We had innumerable questions about the process, and she patiently answered all of them in terms that we could understand. In fact, she probably answered them several times as it was often difficult for us to fully grasp all the all the nuances of revocable living trusts, wills, probate, and many other things. Over the next few months, she continued to work with us as we tailored the different components of a comprehensive estate plan to our needs. This was no fill-in-the-blank MadLibs kind of thing - it required careful consideration of our situation and the repeated modification of documents to reflect our wishes. Throughout the whole process, Marina was patient and accommodating and exceedingly generous with her time. Finally, after years of procrastination, we have a completed estate plan. We have a revocable living trust, wills, advance health care directives, and powers of attorney. Guardians for our children have been identified and provisions have been made for their care. As I look at the binder that Marina provided to us, I can't imagine trying to do this on our own. We are grateful to Marina for her expertise, and enthusiastically recommend her for anyone's estate planning needs. read more

I have utilized Marina's services to establish a trust, and she was wonderful to work with. Marina was sensitive to my needs and addressed all of my concerns in a way that put me at ease. She made the process simple and completed the tasks very quickly. Since my expectations were exceeded, I recently turned to Marina again to assist with family law matters. We are in the midst of working through those issues, but everything is going well. Marina has gone out of her way to accommodate me, and I appreciate the exceptional level of service. I am proud to say that she is my lawyer. More importantly, we are quickly becoming friends, and I embrace the professional acumen coupled with the ability to see the person beyond the scope of the matter/s at hand. I highly recommend Marina for all of your legal needs. read more

A realtor recommended Marina to assist with a prenuptial agreement. I couldn't have been more pleased with the experience. Marina was knowledgeable and thorough. She was prompt, patient, and personable. Most of all, I always felt that she had my best interest at heart. A top attorney that I can highly recommend. read more

Outstanding Service!! I went here to get a trust done and went because of the reviews. Marina did an awesome job. She sat with me, answered all my questions, made suggestions and gave me a draft. I knew a little about trusts and thought I knew how I wanted parts done, but, she explained why she thinks I should do it different AND more detailed than I suggested. After the trust was done, she put everything in the trust that she could and gave me the paperwork for what I needed to do. Well above what I expected. If you need a trust I highly recommend going here! read more

Marina is a very dedicate and sincere person. She gives great practical advices & always has her client's best interests in mind. She takes her time to learn about both family and financial situations and her estate plans are truly "custom fit". She's always available to answer questions and does so in an easy to understand manner. read more

Marina helped my family with estate planning as we were facing the death of a loved one. She was very sensitive to the fact that we did not have much time and got the job done quickly. She is highly skilled in her practice and her attention to detail is impressive. We are so grateful for the work she did, and would recommend her to anyone needing help with estate planning or probate matters. read more

I picked this lady because of the positive reviews and she was conveniently located. I'm so grateful Yelp steered me in the right direction because our whole experience was awesome. Estate planning is serious business and can be intimidating and complicated . Even when you haven't got much, you still have to let everyone know what do about your kids or your stuff or your body once you go. I called and she met with me within a week. She explained some things over the phone so I understood what I was getting into. My husband and I met her and she spent an hour explaining exactly what service she provides and how everything works -a free consultation in which she made everything simple straight forward easy to understand. She then quoted a price for the service . We filled out the paperwork , wrote the check and later sat down again and reviewed everything we decided and she gave advice without pushiness or judgement. So clear and professional. She completed the work and now it's all done and I feel like grown up for having sorted it all out and planned ahead. I'm so grateful for the great advice, the helpful instruction and the professionalism! read more

I didnt even use her services. I called the her expecting a secretary, she answered the phone herself and helped point me in the right direction because i needed real estate law not estate planning. I didn't know. But if I need help in her area of expertise she will be the first person I call. She actually seemed like a good person, Ive dealt with lawyers before and she approached it from my perspective not hers. thank you read more

Marina is amazing at estate planning. She is very knowledgeable and thorough. My husband and I enjoyed working with Marina. Her suggestions and advice was clear and thoughtful. She went to extra lengths to make sure that our questions and concerns were all addressed and answered. Her attention to detail and what your needs are makes her an outstanding lawyer. I recommend her services to anyone wanting to have their estate planning done. She also guides you and advises you if you have an international background. read more

My husband and I worked with Marina V. on our living trust. We thought at first that our situation appeared to be quite complicated. But because of her full knowledge on setting up living trusts, it did not come out to be one. Her explanations to our concerns were very easy to understand. She laid out before us all possibilities and options. She was very professional in her demeanor and yet very funny at times. We had a good time with her all throughout the process. The package came out to be very nice and professional. It was easy to go through and refer to. read more

I am so thankful I found Marina to help me out with my trust documents. Being a novice at this I was very nervous about the whole process. Her ability to explain every detail about every part of the trust in language I could understand made it seem effortless and she made me feel like a part of the process. She was always available anytime I had a question and so easy to talk to. Marina provided outstanding service and I highly recommend going to her. THANKS MARINA! read more

We asked Marina to review an existing ABC trust. She completely rewrote the trust in a matter of a week or two and educated us on the provisions and how to handle them. We also met several times to revise a will and establish multiple health directives. Throughout the project she displayed in depth knowledge of the estate matters, tax law and family considerations. She recommended a couple of fiduciaries which we interviewed. She was available to us as needed, for several meetings, and she promptly answered all emails. All this was accomplished on time and on budget. We highly recommend her services read more