Susan Mercure specializes in representing high net worth clients in sophisticated estate planning and estate and trust administration.

On the estate planning side, Ms. Mercure utilizes techniques to reduce the size of an estate for estate tax purposes and employs other techniques to accomplish the distribution goals of her clients.  She effectively communicates technical concepts and is able to convey complex concepts in a way that is easy for clients to understand. She also assists her clients with their charitable planning goals, including the formation and implementation of family foundations. Additionally, she is knowledgeable about retirement benefits planning.

On the estate administration side, Ms. Mercure regularly prepares estate tax returns for her high net worth clients and represents them in the audit of those returns when necessary.  She has assisted clients with secondary offerings to generate cash to pay significant estate taxes, and she effectively manages beneficiary disputes when they occur. She also helps devise solutions to complicated distribution issues to meet goals of beneficiaries. Furthermore, she assists fiduciaries and beneficiaries through the administration process with empathy and compassion.

Ms. Mercure was a certified specialist in estate planning, trust and probate law for more than 20 years, and has recently resigned from her status. She has been recognized on the Best Lawyers® in America list since 2012.

Ms. Mercure was chair of the YMCA of San Diego County Board of Directors from 2017-2019. She is also a past chair of Mission Valley YMCA’s board of management and is the past chair of the YMCA of San Diego County’s Board of Governors.