Katie L. Capielo

Katie Capielo’s practice includes fiduciary accounting and surcharge actions, trust litigation, will and trust contests, interpretation of testamentary instruments, beneficiary representation, elder abuse litigation, and conservatorship disputes. She handles cases from pre-litigation planning and discovery through trial or settlement. Katie’s practice also includes estate planning, probate, conservatorships, and trust administration.

Katie advocates for her clients by giving them a voice they feel has been lost in the perfect storm of grief and greed. Her ability to passionately, and successfully, represent her clients comes from her professional and personal experience. With compassion and determination, Katie helps her clients navigate through the emotional noise and chaos of their dispute and stay focused on the result her clients are entitled to.

Katie started out as a film editor and writer. Infatuated by the family dynamic, Katie’s stories would always focus on one of the multitude ways family members interact, through trauma, competitiveness, and rivalry. As an editor, Katie had precise attention to detail and was quick to catch inconsistencies, both visually and within the storyline. This background is extremely useful for Katie as a lawyer because it helps her find inconsistencies in the opposing party’s position and causes her to investigate further when their “story” simply doesn’t add up. Katie will passionately craft her client’s narrative that faithfully, professionally, and persuasively presents her client’s legal position.

As for her estate planning practice, Katie advises individuals and families with tax saving strategies to preserve their estate for multiple generations. She is dedicated to helping clients create an individualized estate plan that protects their wishes in the event they are no longer able to speak for themselves. Katie guides clients through strategies to preserve their assets from the unnecessary expenses of probate as well as minimizes future family conflict. Her story telling imagination and litigation background allows her to illustrate scenarios for clients who need to contemplate the difficult decisions often ignored in shortsighted estate planning.

Katie earned her law degree and LLM in Taxation (with honors) from Golden Gate University. While in school, she served as a judicial extern at the San Francisco Family Law Court and later served as a judicial extern to the Honorable John Sugiyama at the Contra Costa County Probate Court.

Katie’s legal career started at a tax and accounting firm advising high net worth clients on estate and gift tax planning strategies. She later worked at solo and boutique trust and estate law firms in the East Bay. After working her way to a partnership at Brothers Smith, Katie decided to work with like-minded attorneys and joined the women-owned business Candelaria LLP.

Katie makes herself available for presentations to Financial Advisors, Real Estate and Insurance groups to provide education these professionals can relay to their clients who are frequently in the state of a life and financial change.

Katie has been recognized in the respected legal publication of Northern California Super Lawyers as a Rising Star for the years 2023 and 2024.

Professional Memberships:

· State Bar of California

· Contra Costa County Bar Association

· ProVisors

· Professional Women’s Referral Group

· BNI