Serving The Bay Area For More Than A Decade

Photo of the reception room of Johnston, Kinney & Zulaica LLP
Deb L. Kinney

Deb L. Kinney

  • Of Counsel

Contact Me:

Practice Areas

  • Estate Planning
  • Family Law
  • Probate
  • Trust Administration
  • Trust and Estate Litigation

Education

  • New College of California School of Law, San Francisco, California
    • J.D.
  • University of California, Berkeley, California
    • B.A.

Certified Legal Specialties

  • Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law, California, 2017

Biography

Deb L. Kinney is Of Counsel at Johnston, Kinney & Zulaica LLP, a law firm providing comprehensive estate planning, trust administration, probate and family law. The practice provides foundational estate planning, wealth transfer, charitable planned giving, and non-citizen and international planning to a broad spectrum of families, as well as extensive probate and trust administration practices representing both beneficiaries and trustees. Johnston, Kinney & Zulaica LLP assists families with formation and dissolution issues and has a comprehensive elder law and special needs practice.

Deb has a B.A. from University of California at Berkeley, a J.D. from New College School of Law, is a member of the California State Bar Trusts and Estates Section, the Bar Association of San Francisco and the American Bar Association, among other organizations.

Deb has an extensive background in real estate and has had her broker's license for over 20 years. She was involved with the passage of a series of property tax bills including passing the first bill ever to protect property owners who are unrelated.

Deb sits on the board of The Tides Advocacy Fund and Planned Parenthood Mar Monte. Deb has served on the boards of Horizons Foundation, Equality California and the Equality CA PAC for many years. Deb has been extensively involved and remains committed to advocacy for all people, has worked tirelessly on behalf of the LGBTQ community regarding income, property and estate tax issues and on women and gender equity issues. Deb presents regularly on topics ranging from estate planning, elder issues, estate settlement, LGBTQ tax issues and creative ways to accomplish charitable planned giving and how to become more politically engaged. Deb has two daughters, ages 22 and 32.

Bar Admissions

  • California, 1996

Recognition​

  • CA Super Lawyers
  • Selisse Berry Legacy Leader Award Winner, SF Business Times

Professional Associations

  • California State Bar, Trust and Estates Section, Member
  • Bar Association of San Francisco, Member
  • American Bar Association, Member
  • National LGBT Bar Association, Board of Directors
  • Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom, Member

Community Involvement

  • Equality California, Board Member, 2006 to 2012
  • Equality California PAC, 2009 to 2012
  • Horizons Foundation, Board Member, 2004 to 2013
  • Horizons Foundation Advisory Council, 2013 to Present
  • Tides Advocacy Fund, Board Member, 2012 to Present
  • National LGBT Board, Board Member, 2017 to 2020
  • Planned Parenthood Board Member, Mar Monte Chapter, 2019 to Present

Classes & Seminars

  • Bar Association of San Francisco, Presenter, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2015
  • Speaker at Fortune 500 companies including Google, Intuit, Oracle, Schwab, Wells Fargo, Salesforce, Facebook, Merrill Lynch, Northern Trust, Morgan Stanley, amongst many others
  • Speaker at NorCal FPA Annual Meeting, 2010, 2015, 2019
  • Speaker at Stanford Charitable Planning Seminar, 2016

Fraternities or Sororities

  • Alpha Phi

Languages

  • English
  • French