Partner
Estate Planning, Trusts + Wealth Transfer
Sinclair counsels individuals and families in the implementation of various estate planning techniques. His practice includes developing complex wealth transfer strategies (including intra‑family loans, sales to intentionally defective grantor trusts (IDGTs), family business succession entities, grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs), irrevocable life insurance trusts (ILITs) and qualified personal residence trusts (QPRTs)) as well as crafting revocable living trusts that are sensitive to separate property and community property concerns.
He has also successfully represented clients in estate tax and gift tax audits, trust reformation proceedings and requests for private letter rulings. In addition, his practice includes advising California fiduciaries concerning trust, probate and estate administration matters.
Prior to building his estate planning practice, Sinclair was an associate focused on corporate law in the Menlo Park office of Perkins Coie, LLP, where he counseled clients on a variety of general corporate transactions, including corporate formation, venture capital financing and merger and acquisition matters.
Sinclair is a Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law, has been named to the Northern California Super Lawyers® list (as a Super Lawyer in 2015-2023 and as a Rising Star from 2009-2014), and has served on the boards of various community organizations since 2005.
Special Expertise
- Comprehensive estate planning with a sensitivity to community property and separate property issues and the minimization of estate, gift and generation‑skipping transfer (GST) taxes
- Intra-family loans and sales
- Intergenerational dynastic trust planning
- Family business succession entities, including limited partnerships (LPs) and limited liability companies (LLCs)
- Transfer tax advocacy before the IRS Estate & Gift Tax Division
- Trust, probate and estate administration
Academic Credentials
- J.D., University of California at Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall)
- California Law Review
- Berkeley Technology Law Journal
- A.B., cum laude, Princeton University (Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs
- State Bar of California Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law
Experience and Affiliations
