John A. Hartog is a California certified specialist in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law, as well as a California certified specialist in Taxation Law. Mr. Hartog's practice emphasizes estate planning, trust and probate administration, including dispute resolution, and taxation matters. Mr. Hartog also serves a mediator in trusts and estates disputes. Mr. Hartog was admitted to the Bar in 1979. He earned an L.L.M. in Taxation from the Golden Gate University of Law in 1984; his J.D. degree from Hastings College of the Law, University of California, in 1979; and his B.A. degree, cum laude, from Pomona College in 1974.

Mr. Hartog is a Fellow of the American College of Trusts and Estates Counsel. Mr. Hartog is a past Chair of the Executive Committee of the Trusts & Estates Section of the California State Bar. He is also a past Chair of the Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law Advisory Commission to the Board of Legal Specialization of the California State Bar. Mr. Hartog has served as a Lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley Law School (Boalt Hall) where he taught “Wills and Trusts.”

Mr. Hartog has been selected by his peers as a “Super Lawyer” and one of the “Top 100 Lawyers in Northern California” for the past five years. He has also been selected by Worth Magazine as one of “America’s Top 100 Lawyers” for three consecutive years.

Mr. Hartog is a co-author of California Trust Practice, released by Matthew Bender in November 1996, and updated annually thereafter. Mr. Hartog is the lead consulting editor and a co-author for the Matthew Bender publication California Wills & Trusts, a multi-volume treatise; he is also a legal consultant to the California Wills and Trusts document assembly program. The treatise and document assembly program were originally released in September 1991 and have been updated annually thereafter. He is a past Executive Editor of the California Trusts & Estates Quarterly, the journal of the Trusts & Estates Section of the California State Bar.

Mr. Hartog is the author of “The Trouble With Trusts” published in Vol. 12, No. 4 of the California Trusts & Estates Quarterly (Winter, 2006); a co-author of “Can You Hear Me Now? Drafting a No Contest Clause Under the New Rules” published in Vol. 11, No. 4 of the California Trusts & Estates Quarterly (Winter, 2005); “And Now the Rest of the Story: No Contest Clauses Under the New Rules of Section 21305” published in Vol. 11, No. 3 of the California Trusts & Estates Quarterly (Fall, 2005); “Why Repealing the No Contest Clause is a Good Idea” published in Vol. 10, No. 3 of the California Trusts & Estates Quarterly (Fall 2004). He also co-authored “Alice in Tulsa-Land: The Dobler Effect on Creditors of Revocable Trusts” published in Vol. 10, No. 2 of the California Trusts & Estates Quarterly (Summer 2004). He is also the co-author of “The Dead Hand Writes, and Having Writ, Moves On: Litigating and Using No Contest Clauses” published in Vol. 9, No. 4 of the California Trusts & Estates Quarterly (Winter 2004). Mr. Hartog is the author of “When Momma Won’t Jump,” published in the February 2002 issue of Facts & Findings, a National Association of Legal Assistants magazine. Mr. Hartog is a co-author of “QPRTs for Co-Tenancy Interests – Do They Work?” published in Vol. 6, No. 3 of the California Trusts and Estates Quarterly (Fall 2000). Mr. Hartog is the author of “As the Trust World Turns,” published in Vol. 5, No. 4 of the California Trusts & Estates Quarterly (Winter 1999). Mr. Hartog is a co-author of “Fiduciary Delegation of Investment Power Under the California Uniform Prudent Investor Act,” California Trusts & Estates Quarterly (Spring 1999). Mr. Hartog is a co-author of “A Trustee’s Crime and Punishment: Managing Fiduciary Liability Under the California Uniform Prudent Investor Act,” published in Vol. 4, No. 2 of the California Trusts & Estates Quarterly (Summer 1998). Mr. Hartog is the author of “Estate Planning Aspects of Managing a Highly Appreciated Asset after the 1997 Tax Reform Act,” published in Estate Planning, November 1997. He is a co-author of “Assisting the Nonprofessional Trustee in Implementing the Administrative Trust,” published in University of Southern California Law School's Forty-Ninth Annual Institute on Federal Taxation -- Major Tax Planning for 1997. Mr. Hartog is a co-author of “Tripping Over the Gopher Holes: An Estate's Planner's Guide to Proposition 13,” published in Vol. 2, No. 4 and Vol. 2, No. 5 of the California Trusts & Estates Quarterly (Winter 1996 and Spring 1997). Mr. Hartog is the author of “Postmortem Trust Administration: A Checklist Approach,” published in Estate Planning, Trust & Probate News, 1995. He is a co-author of “Administering Insolvent Estates: Squabbling Over the Table Scraps,” published in Vol. 14, No. 4 of the Estate Planning, Trust & Probate News, 1994. Mr. Hartog is the author of “Keeping One's Balance When Traversing the Icy Slope: Administering the Living Trust Upon the Death of the First Spouse,” published in 13 CEB Estate Planning and California Probate Reporter 1, and 13 CEB Estate Planning and California Probate Reporter 33; “California's New Trust Law” published in 8 CEB Estate Planning and California Probate Reporter 77; “Disposition of Estates Without Administration,” published in 6 CEB Estate Planning and California Probate Reporter 41; and “An Examination of the New Statutory Fringe Benefit Rules,” published in Volume II, No. 2 of the Tax Exchange, a publication of Golden Gate University.

Mr. Hartog spoke to the UCLA/CEB Estate Planning Institute in May 2009 on “Taking The Fright Out Of In Terrorem: Drafting No Contest Clauses Under The New Regime.” He presented to the Annual Estate and Gift Tax Conference of the Taxation of the California State Bar in February 2009 regarding “Malpractice Issues When Representing Fiduciaries.” He presented to the ALI-ABA Conference in July 2008 on Advanced Issues in Trust Administration regarding the “Ethical Issues Involved in Representing Trustees.” Mr. Hartog was a speaker at the 2008 California Judicial Education Probate and Mental Health Institute where he was a panelist on “No Contest Clauses: Where They Are and Where They Are Going.” He spoke at the 27th Annual Southern California Tax and Estate Planning Forum, discussing “An Alternative Strategy to the Bypass and Marital Trusts.” Mr. Hartog spoke on “The Trouble with Trusts” to the Estate Planning Council of the Diablo Valley in March 2007. Mr. Hartog spoke on “The Law and Rules Governing the Nonprofessional Trustee’s Duty and Power to Invest Trust Assets Under the Uniform Prudent Investor Act and the Peculiar Issues that Might Arise” in March 2007 under the auspices of the Southern California Tax and Estate Planning Forum. Mr. Hartog spoke on “Post-Mortem Tax Planning Issues” as part of the ALI-ABA Advanced Estate Planning Forum in New Orleans in March 2007. Mr. Hartog spoke on “Administering Stale Trusts: How Can we Freshen Them Up?” to the USC Probate and Trust Conference in November 2006, and on “Technology in an Estate Planning Practice “ to the USC Probate and Trust Conference in November 2005. He also spoke on “Mediation in Trusts and Estates Disputes” to the Southern California Tax and Estate Planning Forum in October 2004. He spoke on “Post-Mortem Tax Planning” for the ABA-ALI Advanced Estate Planning Session in New Orleans, Louisiana in November 2004. Mr. Hartog spoke to the Stanislaus County Estate Planning Forum in September 2004 on “Assisting a Trustee in Navigating the Administrative Trust.” He was a lecturer to the California CPA Education Foundation on “Funding Sub-Trusts With Difficult Assets” in July 2004. He spoke on “What You Don’t Know About Being a Trustee Will Make Your Lawyer Rich” to the Redwood Empire Estate Planning Council in February 2004. Mr. Hartog was a speaker on “Litigating and Drafting No Contest Clauses” for the Trusts and Estates Section of the California State Bar in September and October 2003. He lectured on “Everything You Wanted To Know About The Administrative Trust But Were Afraid To Ask” at the Peninsula Chapter of CPA’s Society of California in Redwood City, California in June 2003. He spoke on “Walking the Plank Without Falling in the Muck: Ethical Malpractice and Practical Issues in Representing Trustees” at the Alameda County Bar Association Trusts and Estates Section in Oakland, California in June 2003. He also spoke on “Ethical Issues for Lawyers in Trust Administration and Estate Planning” at the 10th Annual Conference of the American Academy of Estate Planning Lawyers in Las Vegas, Nevada in May 2003. Mr. Hartog spoke on “What to Do and Not Do with a Terminally Ill Client” for Lincoln Financial in San Ramon, California in May 2003. He spoke on “Issues Arising from Representing Trustees” at the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis 14th Annual Institute on Estate Planning in April 2003. Mr. Hartog spoke on “Untangling the Kitten’s Yarn: Ethical, Practical and Malpractice Issues in Representing Trustees” at the Southern California Tax and Estate Planning Forum in San Diego in October 2002. Mr. Hartog lectured at the ALI-ABA Committee on Continuing Legal Education’s Post-Mortem Planning and Estate Administration in Boston, Massachusetts in September 2002 and in San Francisco in August, 2001. Mr. Hartog’s topic was “Federal Estate and Gift Taxation.” Mr. Hartog spoke on “Ethical and Malpractice Issues in Representing Trustees” for the Trusts and Estates Section of the California State Bar in July 2002. Mr. Hartog lectured at the California CPA Education Foundation Advanced Estate Planning Institute in January 2001. Mr. Hartog’s topic was “Navigating Through The Administrative Trust.” Mr. Hartog co-lectured at The State Bar of California Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law Section in January 2001. Mr. Hartog’s topic was “Tax Planning and Tax Elections After Death.”

Mr. Hartog served as a faculty member of the Annual Estate Planning Institute for the Practising Law Institute (PLI) from 1993 through 2002. Topics included “Tax Planning After Death,” “Devaluing the Estate Through Lifetime Transfers,” “A Trustee’s Crime and Punishment: Managing Fiduciary Liabilities Under the California Uniform Prudent Investor Act,” and “Estate Planning For Collectibles.”

Mr. Hartog lectured at the 49th Annual Institute on Federal Taxation, sponsored by the University of Southern California. Mr. Hartog’s topic was “Assisting the Nonprofessional Trustee in Implementing the Administrative Trust.”

Mr. Hartog was a moderator-panelist for the 16th Annual Fall Program of the Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law Section of the State Bar of California. The topic of the program was “The Administration of Living Trusts After the Death of the First Spouse.” Mr. Hartog also served as a panelist for the 18th Annual Fall Program of the Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law Section of the State Bar of California on a related topic.

Mr. Hartog lectured at the Chaminade University Tax Foundation 37th Annual Hawaii Tax Institute in October 2000. His topic was “The Practitioner’s Primer on Trust Administration.” Mr. Hartog also lectured at the 36th Annual Hawaii Tax Institute in October 1999. Mr. Hartog’s topic was “How to Protect You and Your Clients as Trust Litigation Storm Clouds Gather.”

Mr. Hartog lectured at the San Francisco Financial Planning Association in September 2000. Mr. Hartog’s topic was “The Uniform Principal and Income Act (UPAIA).” Mr. Hartog lectured at The Law School, University of Southern California 25th Annual Probate and Trust Conference in November 1999. Mr. Hartog’s topic was “Ins and Outs of the Administrative Trust.”

Mr. Hartog has served as a panelist at the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (“ACTEC”) in 1997. Mr. Hartog’s topic was “Comparative Aspects of California Probate and Trust Administration.”

Mr. Hartog served as a panelist on a CEB program regarding “Basic Trust Drafting” in 2002. Mr. Hartog served as a participant at the October 2001 Continuing Education of the Bar program, “Expanding & Managing Your Estate Planning Practice.” He served as the Moderator for the annual Continuing Education of the Bar seminars on “Recent Developments in Estate Planning and Probate Administration” from 1986 through 1998. He served as a panelist on a continuing education program regarding the “Post Death Administration of Living Trusts” in 1994. He has also moderated continuing education programs on "Using California Trusts" in 1988 and 1991; and on “Drafting, Implementing and Administering Inter Vivos Revocable Trusts” in 1985.

Mr. Hartog has served as an instructor for the California CPA Foundation for Education and Research. Mr. Hartog was a co-panelist in 2008 on an Advanced Workshop for Sophisticated Estate Planning Techniques. He also taught a continuing education course for accountants on “Personal Service Corporations.” Mr. Hartog has also been a panelist for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants National Practice Management Conference on “Buy-Sell Agreements for Personal Service Corporations.”

Mr. Hartog has spoken on “How to Protect You and Your Clients as Litigation Storm Clouds Gather: Traps and Pitfalls in Post Mortem Trust Administration” at the Stanislaus County Estate Planning Council in October 2001. He has spoken on “Transfer Taxes: Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow” at the Sonoma County Community Foundation in 2001.

Mr. Hartog is a member of the Alameda County, Contra Costa County, and American Bar Associations. Mr. Hartog is a member of the Tax Section and the Trusts & Estates Law Section of the State Bar of California. He is also a member of the Taxation Section, and Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section of the American Bar Association. Mr. Hartog is admitted to practice before the California Supreme Court, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the United States Tax Court, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, and the New York State Court of Appeals.

Mr. Hartog is a member of California Trust and Estate Counselors, LLP (“CALTEC”). CALTEC is an alliance of independent trust and estate attorneys with offices throughout California committed to providing high quality legal services by drawing upon their collective knowledge and resources. The specialties represented within the CALTEC group include family and business succession planning, post-death administration of trusts and estates, expert witness and consulting services, resolution of tax controversies, litigation in disputed trust and estate matters, and many other areas.