Sharon Brusman & Michael Brophy

Please join us for the next SFEPC meeting on January 17, 2024, at the Omni Hotel in San Francisco. We will be meeting at 5:00 pm for a social hour with hors d’oeuvres and cocktails, followed by our featured speakers, Sharon Brusman and Michael Brophy at 6:00 pm.

From two diverse perspectives, that of a funeral industry professional and a trust and estate litigator, this presentation will cover the tools available to control one’s end of life care and after-death arrangements. The program will touch upon the issues and disputes that can occur both before and after someone passes away and discuss planning considerations to avoid these issues.  The presenters will explore how various planning and instructions are put into action after someone dies and the default rules and procedures in place when one does not make arrangements.

Sharon Brusman is a California licensed Managing Funeral Director, currently at Valley Memorial Park in Novato, CA. She brings years of experience working with families to help them make their end-of-life arrangements, both at the time of need and in advanced planning. She will share practical information to give a deeper understanding of the benefits of pre-need planning one’s funeral arrangements, along with some of the complications that can arise when these arrangements have not been made in advance.

Michael Brophy is a partner at Withers Bergman, LLP and is the Los Angeles leader of the firm’s trust, estate and inheritance disputes team.  Michael is the Office Managing Director of the Los Angeles Office and the Regional Divisional Leader of the US Private Client & Tax division. He is a market leading litigator in Los Angeles whose practice involves both trust, estates and inheritance disputes, family and business disputes and charitable disputes.  Michael has extensive experience representing prominent and successful individuals, families, charities, corporate trustees, institutional and private professional fiduciaries and creditors in high-stakes litigation and the related civil matters involving complex trusts and estates. Michael’s practice covers a broad range of complex matters including, among others, will and trust contests, accounting disputes, breach of duty actions, elder abuse and conservatorship disputes and other contested probate and fiduciary-related matters.