alamedalawyer.com

What It Is

Martz Law (alamedalawyer.com) is a boutique law firm based in California's San Francisco Bay Area, specializing in Trusts & Estates planning, led by attorney Gunnar Karl Martz. It positions itself as providing "litigation-grade" rigor in estate planning for high-net-worth Bay Area families, setting itself apart from online form services (such as Nolo and LegalZoom) and broad, non-specialized generalist firms.

Core Features

The firm designs its services around the unique wealth structures found in the Bay Area:

• Tech Equity Planning: Integration and tax planning within trusts for RSUs, ISOs, NQSOs, carried interest, 409A deferred compensation, and pre-IPO equity;
• Prop 13/19 Property Tax Basis Preservation: Handling the risk of California property transfers triggering reassessment, leveraging parent-child and grandparent-grandchild exclusions;
• Vineyard and Agricultural Asset Succession: Addressing special structures involving Williamson Act contracts, water rights, brand value, and more;
• Cryptocurrency Inheritance: Designing a combination of "digital asset inheritance letters" plus trust provisions for cold wallets, multisig, NFTs, and DeFi positions—preventing private key exposure while ensuring heirs have legitimate access;
• Additionally, it offers standard T&E services including revocable/irrevocable trusts, advanced tools such as QPRT/ILIT/SLAT/IDGT, powers of attorney, and healthcare directives.

The firm uses a virtual-first model: consultations, initial meetings, and document reviews are all conducted via secure video conferencing, while signing and notarization can be coordinated locally or handled through mobile notary services.

Pricing

The website does not disclose any specific fee schedule, instead using a customized quote model based on asset structure and case complexity, which requires an initial consultation to learn more. This lack of information is a drawback for users who prefer upfront price transparency.

Pros & Cons

The main strength is its extremely high degree of specialization, with deep understanding of niche Bay Area challenges such as tech equity, property taxes, and crypto assets—plus direct service from the practicing attorney himself, avoiding the templated risks of document services. The downsides are completely opaque pricing, its status as a solo practice (limiting scale and team redundancy), and a service scope restricted to the California Bay Area and Northern California.

Who It's For

Executives holding substantial tech company equity, owners of high-value Bay Area property or multi-generational family estates, vineyard/family business owners, and individuals holding significant crypto assets who are concerned about inheritance issues.

Access from China

The site is an ordinary marketing website that can be accessed directly. However, its services are aimed solely at California residents, so it holds essentially no practical value for users in China.