About Thea Beatie Eliot
Thea Beatie Eliot, J.D., LL.M. has practiced in the areas of trusts & estates, tax and charitable planning since 1995. She began her practice at a boutique estate planning law firm in downtown San Francisco, working with one of the most innovative estate planners at that time. When that firm formed a joint venture with what is now the largest regional accounting firm in the Bay Area, Thea was asked to head up the new firm’s estate planning arm. There, she created holistic estate and financial plans for affluent clients, including Fortune 500 CEOs and officers. By age 28 she was an equity partner, and by age 31 she was president of the company. Prior to opening her Larkspur practice in 2006, Thea was a name partner at a law firm in Oakland comprised mostly of attorneys from large law firms.
Thea’s practice focuses on personalized estate planning and administration for individuals, couples and families. She has a broad range of experience including wills, revocable living trusts, family business entity planning, co-tenancy arrangements, planning for non-citizen spouses and irrevocable trusts including life insurance trusts, personal residence trusts, grantor retained annuity trusts, dynasty trusts, charitable remainder and lead trusts. She has a particular expertise in planning for families with minor children.
Thea earned her Bachelor of Arts at Reed College in Portland, Oregon, where she majored in Comparative Literature, and studied art history and literature at the University of Paris, Sorbonne. She earned her Juris Doctor cum laude at Seattle University School of Law, where she served as an editor of the Law Review and the Women’s Voice. Thea earned her Masters of Law in Taxation with honors at Golden Gate University School of Law with an estate planning concentration.
Thea is also a graduate of the 2002 class of Leadership San Francisco and a member of the Bar Associations of San Francisco and Marin, the San Francisco Estate Planning Council and the Real Property, Probate and Trust Section of the American Bar Association. She serves on the American Red Cross Bay Area Chapter Planned Giving Advisory Committee and is a former member of the Women Presidents’ Organization. Thea is admitted to practice law in both California and Washington State (inactive status in WA). With a genuine enthusiasm for her work, she is a frequent speaker to advisors, clients and non-profit boards on the subject of estate and charitable planning.
Thea is a San Francisco Bay Area native and lives with her family in the Gerstle Park neighborhood of San Rafael.