Ellen I. Kahn | Sideman & Bancroft LLP

Ellen I. Kahn is a partner at Sideman & Bancroft LLP in San Francisco, California, where she concentrates her practice on estate planning and estate and trust administration. She works with individuals, families, trustees, executors, business owners, executives, and beneficiaries on planning and administration matters involving substantial and sometimes complex assets. For individuals looking for a San Francisco estate planning attorney, Kahn provides guidance involving wills, trusts, charitable planning, family wealth, fiduciary responsibilities, and the administration of estates and trusts.

Estate planning is the primary focus of Kahn’s practice. She advises clients on creating wills, trusts, and charitable entities designed to reflect their goals for children, grandchildren, family members, and philanthropic interests. Every family has different concerns, so estate planning may involve questions about property ownership, business interests, family relationships, tax considerations, and how assets should be managed or distributed in the future.

Kahn represents a wide range of clients, including executives of public companies, founders of privately held businesses, spouses, domestic partners, families with interests in operating businesses, and individuals who own significant real estate or other assets. She also works with multiple generations of families whose planning needs may involve preserving and transferring family wealth over time.

As a San Francisco estate planning attorney, Kahn also handles estate and trust administration. After a death, trustees and executors may need to identify and manage assets, communicate with beneficiaries, carry out the terms of estate planning documents, address administrative responsibilities, and oversee complex property or business interests. Kahn represents fiduciaries as they perform these duties and also advises beneficiaries regarding trust and estate matters.

Her work can involve trusts holding multiple types of assets, including operating businesses. These situations may require coordination among family members, fiduciaries, financial professionals, accountants, and other advisors. Careful administration can be especially important when multiple beneficiaries or substantial business and real estate interests are involved.

Kahn is also a member of Sideman & Bancroft’s Blockchain and Digital Assets Group. Digital assets can create additional estate planning questions involving ownership, access, transfer, security, and how those assets should be addressed within an overall estate plan.

She earned her B.A. from New York University in 1978 and her J.D. from American University’s Washington College of Law in 1981. Kahn is admitted to practice in California and is involved with the Bar Association of San Francisco’s Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Section and the San Francisco Estate Planning Council.

Her current professional recognition includes selection in the 2026 Northern California Super Lawyers list for Estate & Probate and recognition in The Best Lawyers in America for Trusts and Estates. She has also been recognized in the Chambers High Net Worth Guide for Private Wealth Law in Northern California.

Ellen I. Kahn practices from Sideman & Bancroft LLP’s San Francisco office at One Embarcadero Center, Twenty-Second Floor, San Francisco, California 94111.

Individuals, families, business owners, trustees, and executors seeking a San Francisco Estate Planning Attorney can contact Ellen I. Kahn and Sideman & Bancroft LLP for assistance with estate planning, wills, trusts, charitable planning, fiduciary matters, and estate and trust administration.