ABOUT RICHARD M. SEFF · THE ESTATE PLANNING & ELDER LAW FIRM
That background — and the lessons that came with it — is the reason I practice the way I do, and why clients in Woodland Hills and the West Valley have trusted me with their families for more than 35 years.
I didn’t go straight to law school. I earned a Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Maryland and spent years working directly with adolescents and families — learning how people communicate under stress, what they actually need versus what they say they need, and how much the way you deliver information matters as much as the information itself.
From there I earned a second Master’s Degree in Health Care Administration from George Washington University and moved into hospital administration — which taught me how institutions actually work, and how families navigate them when a loved one is in crisis.
By the time I graduated from Southwestern University School of Law in 1990, I understood something that took many of my colleagues years to learn: the law is a tool. The person sitting across the desk is what matters.
During my second year of law school, my grandfather passed away. He had an estate plan — prepared by a competent attorney, properly signed, filed away. The family felt confident everything was in order.
It wasn’t. Because assets had never been transferred into the trust, the family was forced through a lengthy, expensive probate process. The documents existed. The plan had failed.
I watched what that did to my family — the time it consumed, the costs it created, the conflict it caused at an already difficult moment. And I realized this wasn’t a rare mistake. It was a pattern. Too many estate plans are drafted and filed and never truly implemented. They look right on paper and fall apart when they’re needed most.
When I started my own firm, I built it around a different commitment: every plan I create will work. Not just on paper — in practice, in the real world, when a family actually needs it.
I have practiced estate planning and elder law from my Woodland Hills office since 1990. In that time I have worked with thousands of families across the West Valley — Calabasas, Tarzana, Encino, West Hills, and the broader Los Angeles and Ventura County area.
What that experience has given me is perspective that no textbook provides. I have seen what happens when planning is done well — and what happens when it isn’t. I have sat with families in crisis who had options, and with families in crisis who didn’t. I have watched California’s legal landscape shift significantly — Prop 19, Medi-Cal recovery rule changes, trust administration updates — and I have helped clients adapt their plans as the law evolved.
My daughters Rachel and Emily grew up watching me do this work. They remain my daily reminder of why it matters — because every family I help has people who depend on getting this right.
| Credential | Detail |
|---|---|
| Undergraduate | B.A., University of Maryland |
| Graduate | MSW, University of Maryland School of Social Work |
| Graduate | MHA, George Washington University |
| Law degree | J.D., Southwestern University School of Law, 1990 |
| Bar admission | California State Bar, 1990 |
| Memberships | ElderCounsel · WealthCounsel · Life Care Planning Law Firms Association · Better Business Bureau · Asset Protection Council |
A first conversation is straightforward and unhurried. You’ll leave with a clear picture of your options and what the right next step looks like — with no obligation to proceed. I’ve been having this conversation with West Valley families for 35 years. I’d be glad to have it with you.
