Angel Saunders represents high-net-worth clients with respect to sophisticated estate plans, generational wealth transfers, tax planning, trust and probate administration. Angel’s primary focus is on estate planning, trust administration and probate.

Angel is known for both her professionalism and compassion. As a first generation immigrant from Chengdu, China and sister to a sibling with special needs, she recognizes through first-hand experience that every family faces unique challenges resulting in individualized goals and priorities. As legal counsel to her clients from all walks of life, she is intentional, compassionate and empathetic in her approach.

Angel considers herself an advocate to her clients and offers highly technical and strategic tax-planning skills to preserve her clients’ wealth and hard-earned money. As part of her practice, she has assisted countless individuals, families and business owners to prepare their estate plans. Angel has guided clients through difficult and sometimes sensitive, daunting and culturally taboo topics surrounding end-of-life decisions and death. Angel works hard to ensure her clients feel seen, heard, understood and comfortable in these discussions. Angel is a U.S. Army Reserve veteran and an Adjunct Business Law Professor for the San Mateo County Community College District. 

I try not to sound like a lawyer when I speak with our clients. Clients are entrusting me with personal sensitive information ranging from their financial portfolio to complicated and sometimes heartrending family events or situations – information that is relevant and a part of the process to prepare an estate plan. As a result, I want clients to not only feel confident in my abilities as counsel but, more importantly, that they feel relaxed and comfortable with having me in their corner.

Areas of Focus

Experience

  • Counseled high net worth client and their family in preparation of a revocable and irrevocable estate plan to best utilize the lifetime estate and gift tax exclusions and generation-skipping transfer tax limitations.
  • Represent client with a wide and diverse range of assets in real estate, technology and venture capital funds to discuss and execute plans to preserve generational wealth.

  • Counsel corporate fiduciary in the administration of trust estates.
  • Represent Administrator to probate and settle account for multi-million dollar probate consisting of real properties all over the state of California.
  • Review and prepare gift tax returns and estate tax returns for client and fiduciaries.

Credentials

Education

  • Golden Gate University School of Law (J.D.)
  • University of California - Berkeley (B.A.)

Admissions

Bar Admissions

  • California, 2014

Court Admissions

  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

Recognitions

  • Best Lawyers in America®, "Ones to Watch" Trust & Estate Law, 2024-2025
  • San Mateo Chamber of Commerce, "Mover and Shaker Award," 2020
  • Northern California Super Lawyers®, "Rising Stars" Trust & Estate Law, 2020-2023

Presentations

  • Guest lecturer at Skyline College and Menlo College
  • Guest speaker for the Business Essentials series for the San Mateo Area Chamber of Commerce to present the importance of having an estate plan, May 2020
  • Guest speaker for the Business Essentials series for the San Mateo Area Chamber of Commerce to present popular myths about estate plans and probate, June 2020
  • Guest speaker for the Business Essentials series for the San Mateo Area Chamber of Commerce to present Proposition 19 and its legal impact on families, January 2021
  • Featured guest speaker on KTSF, May 2017
  • Featured attorney on a local Chinese radio station FM 96.1, February 2015

Publications

  • Featured attorney, Chinese World Journal, October 2014, December 2014

Professional Activities

  • Asian American Bar Association, Member
  • San Mateo County Bar Association, Member
  • San Francisco Estate Planning Council, Member
  • Silicon Valley Bar Association, Member
    • Court liaison of the Superior Court of California County of San Mateo Probate Department

Community Involvement

  • San Mateo Area Chamber of Commerce, Board Secretary
  • Rotary Club of San Mateo, Former Board Member