Attorney Dennis M. Sandoval

Dennis has experience working in the Probate Courts in Riverside and San Bernardino. Dennis has handled hundreds of probate administrations as well as dozens of probate litigation matters. He has prosecuted and defended probate litigation matters in the Riverside County, San Bernardino County, Orange County and Los Angeles Probate Courts. These include Will contests, trust contests, petitions for accountings, for removal of the trustee and for elder abuse. He is one of very few attorneys who has been successful in obtaining and recovering a double damage award against a trustee who abuse his position.

Attorney Dennis M. Sandoval has been recognized by some of the most well-respected attorney rating services in the nation; for example, he has a 10.0 Superb Rating from Avvo, Inc., he is AV Preeminent® Rated by Martindale-Hubbell®, and he is included in California's selection of Super Lawyers®, an honor that is bestowed upon not more than 5% of attorneys in the state! With credentials such as these, you can be confident that your case is being handled by an attorney that is highly regarded by his fellow peers in the legal community.

Mr. Sandoval is the only attorney in California who has certifications in the three areas of estate planning, elder law and taxation. He is a Certified Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law Specialist and Certified Taxation Law Specialist, both issued by the California Bar Board of Legal Specialization. Dennis is also a Certified Elder Law Attorney (CELA), a designation issued by the National Elder Law Foundation (NELF). He also the designations of Accredited Estate Planner® (AEP) from the National Association of Estate Planners and Councils and Enrolled Agent (EA) from the Internal Revenue Service.

In addition to overseeing the Riverside Probate Law Firm named after him, Mr. Sandoval served for seventeen years as the Director of Education for the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys (AAEPA). The AAEPA is a nationwide membership organization of attorneys concentrating their law practices in estate planning. Dennis served on the Board of Directors of the National Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys (NAELA) and chaired many of its Sections and Task Groups. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the National Elder Law Foundation. For many years Dennis served on the Board of Directors of the Southern California Chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (Southern California NAELA). He served as its president. He was the 2011 Member of the Year of Southern California NAELA. He also served as the Chairperson for the Estate Planning and Elder Law Section of the Riverside County Bar Association for several years.

Dennis is member of the Riverside County Bar Association, the San Bernardino County Bar Association, the Riverside County Estate Planning Council, the San Bernardino County Estate Planning Council, the Inland Empire Planned Giving Roundtable and the Inland Empire Chapter of the California Society of Enrolled Agents.

Dennis' educational degrees include a Master of Tax Law Degree (LL.M.), a Juris Doctorate (J.D.) degree and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration / Finance. He currently teaches as an adjunct professor at Chapman University College of Law in Orange, California, where he teaches various classes for its Master of Tax Law (LL.M.) program. He previously taught at other law schools and at the University of California at Riverside Extension.

Dennis grew up in Riverside, where he attended Our Lady of Perpetual Help grade school and Notre Dame High School. He, his wife and three daughters are providing care for his elderly father in his home in Riverside.

Dennis is a long-time member of the Riverside community. He went to grade school at Our Lady of Perpetual Help and high school at Notre Dame High School, where he participated in many sports, lettering in football and wrestling. He has been a resident of Norco, California for the past two decades, along with his wife and three girls and a menagerie of pets.