Michael Blacksburg

ABOUT MICHAEL BLACKSBURG

Helping you focus on what genuinely matters 

What drives me

I became an estate planning attorney because I love helping my clients think deeply about what’s important to them, so they can live more intentionally today and ensure they have a plan that reflects everything they want to leave to their heirs. 

Who I work with

My practice focuses on clients who have built successful lives and have grown their wealth.  Their success often leads to complexity that requires careful, considered decisions. I’m able to bring my expertise in estate planning, wealth management and family coaching to ensure that their plans work when they need them to. 

The clients who find their way to me want more than transactional estate planning. They want a personal connection. And they don’t want to rush. They’ve often seen what happens when planning is inadequate — family conflicts, assets distributed in ways that didn’t match what the deceased really wanted, and the stress and anxiety that result when an estate plan doesn’t work the way it was intended. 

How I came to estate planning

I started my legal career as a tenant’s rights attorney in San Francisco. During those years, I volunteered for the AIDS Legal Referral Panel to prepare deathbed Wills. Doing this work, I had a conversation I’ll never forget. I was assisting a dying man who had very few assets who asked me: “How can I make sure that my niece gets my Barbie collection?” He wasn’t thinking about money. He knew what was important to him, and how he wanted to impact someone he loved.

I knew immediately that was the kind of conversation I wanted to build my work around, and I transitioned my practice to estate planning. 

My path

I ran my estate planning practice in the Castro neighborhood of San Francisco for ten years.  I closed it in 2014 to join Wells Fargo Private Bank, where I led a team of subject-matter experts to help clients with complex wealth and family structures develop and communicate both wealth and estate plans. 

Working with high-net-worth families helped me to realize that the complexities of managing their wealth and estate plans were driven by personal dynamics as much (or more) than purely financial issues.  My interest led me to study at Georgetown University’s Institute for Transformational Leadership and get certified as a coach from the International Coaching Federation. 

In 2019, I reopened my estate planning practice in Marin which allows me to combine my strengths and passions:  a heart-centered and personal style, hands-on experience in wealth management, trust administration, family dynamics and coaching, and of course creating workable, followable estate plans. 

How I show up at work

I pride myself on bringing my full self to my clients: I’m a divorced dad who’s co-parenting three great kids, a small business owner, a long-time supporter of the LGBT community, an Eagle Scout, a martial artist, part of the Burning Man community … the list goes on.  

Let’s Talk

If you’d value a comprehensive, intentional and intimate approach to creating or updating your estate plan, please reach out.