Testimonials From Our Estate Planning Clients

Our Estate Plan was created by Goralka Law Firm and each phase of the process was conducted very professionally. Our Estate Plan was comprehensive and was created for our unique circumstances since our inheritance. Attorney Goralka had knowledge and insight of estate tax planning and was instrumental in providing options and guidance to achieve our desired Estate Plan outcome. Goralka Law Office is considered by us to be the premier Estate Planning and Tax Planning law firm available and should be considered by anyone who is in the process of establishing their Estate Plan and or selling a business.

John Goralka and his team were extremely helpful in guiding me through selling my business and all the tax planning that was associated with it. He was responsive, very professional, and an absolute pleasure to work with. I am extremely satisfied with the results and my overall experience with him and his team. I highly recommend him for all your tax planning, estate planning and trust needs.

Attorney Goralka has a professional yet personal demeanor and assures clients that their best interests are protected. He has handled my legal affairs for the past few years. He was a source of comfort and serenity at a time when emotions were running high. He is trustworthy, thorough, and dependable. He is very personable and takes a personal interest in the health and well-being of his clients. Thank you so much we are incredibly appreciative.

I worked with John on a few web related projects. What I learned about John is that he shows a lot of class and cares about each and every client. Lawyers can be intimidating, but not John. He's easy to talk to, knows what he is talking about and all around great to work with. I'd recommend him to anyone looking for an attorney to review an estate planning case of any kind in Sacramento.

If you want to set up a revocable living trust as part of your estate planning, it would be hard to find an attorney better qualified than John Goralka. My spouse and I retained him in 2016 to help us establish a revocable living trust that continues to protect our interests despite multiple changes in tax and inheritance law since the trust was created. We have not had to make any changes or pay any additional fees since our trust was created. In addition to his expertise in both estate and tax law, he is personable with very good communication skills, has a great sense of humor, and truly cares for his clients. Before the pandemic, John regularly presented free estate planning seminars in his offices for current and prospective clients and hosted periodic "wine downs" at the end of the workday featuring his favorite wines and food that he prepared himself. During the pandemic he has been especially attentive to his older clients, many of whom had lost their life partners and became quite isolated due to the lock-down. His "Wine Down Wednesdays" moved online to Zoom and featured a companionable mix of conversation, trivia games, and a fun raffle for participants. For a long time, our estate planning consisted of holographic wills of our own design, adding the right of survivorship to the title on our home, transfer on death designations on financial accounts, and beneficiary designations on our retirement accounts. After one of our mutual fund companies said they would refer our accounts to a probate court rather than follow our instructions about how to determine inheritance in the event we both died within thirty days of each other, we seriously considered a do-it-yourself trust using a Nolo.com template. If no one ever scrutinizes or challenges your DIY trust: no problem. If you make a mistake, however, your estate can end up in probate after all and have to pay a huge probate fee that is many times the cost of a professionally prepared trust. We decided to pay the upfront costs of a professional trust and searched for the right attorney. We met with three other well-qualified estate planning attorneys before selecting John. His pricing was in line with what other law firms charge for a comprehensive trust that covers the many contingencies that can come up. As John likes to say "bad things can happen to good people" so you want to be prepared and have a good attorney who can protect you. Squabbles over inheritance have torn many families apart. John stands behind his trust work and will defend you and your trust from challengers and make sure your wishes are respected. Other than death and taxes, the only sure thing in life is you don't get what you don't pay for... The State of California has already written an expensive legally binding estate plan for you. If you would like more say in what happens to your assets at less cost, consider a revocable living trust. We have referred a number of our friends and neighbors to John. Those that have used his services have all been pleased. John offers a free one hour consultation to discuss your needs and how he might help you. Have a look at his website and call his office if you have questions.

"Highly experienced in all areas of trust and estate planning. Quality legal services provided with excellent customer service and quick completion. A wonderful experience! The Goralka Law Firm is both committed to providing top notch legal services as well as supporting their community! Thank you!"

"We have found the Goralka Law firm to be friendly, efficient, and extremely knowledgeable in every need we have brought to John and his team. Particularly in areas in which we have felt at a loss, their expertise and personal care have given us confidence and peace of mind. These are people we absolutely trust for their wisdom and advice in navigating the complex world of estate planning and protection. We are grateful for their help, and have come to count them as personal friends."

"John, Brittney and Kelly of Goralka Law Firm are a great group to work with - they are professional, kind, patient and knowledgeable. John went above and beyond to help us with some sensitive family issues and we appreciated his help very much. I highly recommend them."

"My spouse and I were searching for some legal advise regarding updating our Last Will and Testament. We contacted 3 different Law Firms - one said it would be 3-4 months before she could meet with us, another never returned our calls, and the last said that he was busy and suggested we continue looking for another firm. We use I-5 a lot, and noticed John Goralka's sign while driving one day. I decided to call and when I did, I was told he was with another client and that he would call me back. Around 6:30 pm I received John's return call. I questioned him about how late in the work-day it was - his response was, "We have a rule here that we return all calls on the day we receive them." Needless to say -we were impressed. That's when we began to meet and work with John and his staff. We immediately were impressed with their knowledge, their passion and their friendliness. We ultimately did not "update our will". Rather, with John, and with his guidance we established a Living Trust which will better accommodate our family needs in the future. We feel extremely blessed and pleased that we found John and his outstanding staff - we believe you will too!"

We used this firm to write a new family trust, including the handling of remains, and distribution of assets, as well as the advanced directive for medical care. All of our wants were taken care of and the whole project was well done. The cost of this was , we thought, reasonable.

"After doing extensive research on the Internet to find the best estate planning and family living trust attorney in the Sacramento area, my spouse and I narrowed it down to two firms. We had a free phone consultation with one of the firms and were impressed with what we found out. The other firm, the Goralka Law Firm, offered a free seminar which my spouse and I attended. In the seminar, which lasted about two hours, John Goralka presented a very convincing case for using his firm by going through the many mistakes that people can make when establishing an estate plan. This two-hour presentation gave ample time to interact with John and see how he thoroughly addresses these potential mistakes with his very comprehensive trusts. The seminar gave us much more confidence in using the Goralka Law Firm than the phone consultation we had with the attorney at the other firm, so we chose John to do our trust. We were not disappointed. The whole process from filling out the detailed questionnaire, to interacting with the friendly and competent staff, to our original meeting with John to review our specific parameters for constructing the trust, to the final meeting with John and the signing of the trust and all the related documents went very smoothly. We are extremely happy with our trust, and feel confident that we made the right choice in selecting the Goralka Law Firm. The trust was more expensive than the average living trust, but we are happy we spent the extra money to get the best product available. Saving money on your living trust can cost much more than the money saved if your trust is not constructed in the comprehensive manner John’s trust is. We highly recommend John Goralka and the entire staff of the Goralka Law Firm."

"I originally went to the Mr. Goralka in 2006 for my Will and Trust. I was pleased with the attention I received so when I needed to update these items I again went to Mr. Goralka. I was again pleased. He was patient with my questions and explained until I understood. I would recommend his Law Firm to anyone looking for a reliable source to provide them with conscientious service."