Biography

Verlan Y. Kwan is a Partner at Keystone Law Group, P.C. with her primary focus on trust and estate administration and litigation. With over a decade of litigation experience, Verlan has represented trustees, executors, administrators, creditors, heirs and beneficiaries in complex disputes with assets ranging from several hundred thousands of dollars to tens of millions of dollars. With her broad knowledge and compassionate approach to matters, Verlan has successfully litigated and settled countless matters to her clients’ satisfaction. 

In addition to disputed matters, Verlan also specializes in advising fiduciaries in high net worth estates and trusts. Furthermore, Verlan has acted as the Administrator of estates for foreign heirs and beneficiaries, thereby allowing her to proficiently advise executors, administrators and trustees on estate and trust administration matters. Verlan regularly appears in courts throughout California, including but not limited to, Los Angeles County, Riverside County, San Mateo County, Ventura County, San Bernardino County, Orange County, and San Francisco County. 


Verlan was selected by Super Lawyers Magazine as a Rising Star in 2016 and as a Super Lawyer for the past seven consecutive years (2017-2023). In 2023, Verlan was named to the Top 50: 2023 Women Southern California Super Lawyers list. She was also included in “Top Women Attorneys of Southern California,” a special section in the September 2018 issue of Los Angeles magazine.

 

Prior to joining Keystone, Verlan began her legal career with an AmLaw 100 law firm concentrating on complex antitrust litigation for several years and subsequently worked on wage and hour class action matters.

Publications / Speaking Engagements

  • Strategic Considerations in Requesting Beneficiary Approval of Trustee's Proposed Action (forthcoming), CEB, Practitioner.
  • Attorney Fee Agreement for a Probate Administration (forthcoming), CEB, Practitioner.
  • Attorney-Client Fee Agreement, Representing the Trustee (forthcoming), CEB, Practitioner.
  • National Business Institute (NBI) Topic: “Spousal Rights” November 20, 2019.
  • Fiduciary Accounts, Requirements, Issues and Common Mistakes, Los Angeles County Bar Association Brown Bag Event, September 13, 2018 – Drafted the written materials for distributed use with the event.
  • Probate Bootcamp, National Business Institute (NBI) Topic: “Closing the Estate” June 16, 2017.
Verlan Y. Kwan
Partner
Education

Verlan graduated from California Western School of Law and received her Bachelor of the Arts in Political Science with a concentration in American Law and a minor in Cognitive Psychology from the University of California, Irvine where she was on the Dean’s List.

Memberships

  • California Lawyers Association, Trusts & Estates and Litigation Sections
  • Los Angeles County Bar Association, Trusts & Estates and Litigation Sections
  • East Bay Trust & Estate Lawyers
Representative Matters
  • Successfully litigated and obtained a favorable settlement for a client in recovering her community property interest worth tens of millions from her deceased husband’s trust in a multi-jurisdictional action spanning three states.
  • Successfully invalidated an irrevocable qualified personal residence trust procured through undue influence by one of the children of the living settlor.
  • Obtained a judgment in excess of $200,000 against a client’s prior attorney for his failure to make the proper allegations in his representation of the client in a trust contest that resulted in lost inheritance.
  • Advised over 100+ clients, located throughout the United States and abroad, on trust and estates administration with assets valued upwards of tens of millions of dollars in multiple states.
  • Successfully represented beneficiaries in enforcing their rights in an estate proceeding that had been open for 20+ years.
  • Successfully represented caretakers in enforcing their beneficial rights to a trust and insurance policy where the estate planning attorney failed to provide the settlor with a certificate of independent review.
  • Represented clients on real property transfers without the need for a formal probate.
  • Obtained favorable outcomes for clients in correcting the title to real property for the purposes of maximizing the step-up in basis at the death of the first spouse.
  • Prosecuted financial elder abuse claims on behalf of heirs of a decedent.
  • Handled arbitrations, mediations and settlement conferences in state and federal court.
  • Regularly represent and advise clients in conservatorship matters.
  • Represented clients in obtaining guardianships.

Interests

Outside of the office, Verlan mentors law students, enjoys the outdoors and spending time with her husband and children and traveling to new destinations.