CAROL K. KAO, ESQ.
Carol provides expert confidential estate and tax planning advice to select private wealth clients. She devotes time to listening and understanding the needs and wishes of her clients and applies her decades of legal expertise and experience to customize estate plans to fulfill her clients’ goals.
Carol has been voted annually by her peers to be one of the Best Lawyers in America since 2006. She has also been recognized each year by her peers to be one of Southern California Super Lawyers since 2007. In addition, Carol was voted by the San Diego Super Lawyers as one of the ‘Top 25 Women Attorneys’ and one of the ‘Top 50 Attorneys’ overall in San Diego.
Carol is also honored to receive the recognition from her peers as the Lawyer of the Year in the 29th edition of The Best Lawyers in America. This accolade is bestowed upon only one attorney in trust and estate law in San Diego each year.
Career History
Honors and Activities
Education and Memberships
Career History
Before establishing Prosperity Legal Counsel, Inc., Carol was a partner with the international law firm of Withers Bergman LLP, where she was a founding partner of their San Diego and Rancho Santa Fe offices. Prior to Withers, Carol was a partner and member of the Board of Directors of the national law firm of McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP (formerly Luce Forward Hamilton & Scripps LLP), and was the Co-chair of their Family Wealth and Exempt Organizations department. Carol was a CPA with Arthur Andersen’s real estate division before starting her legal career.
Honors and Activities
Carol was especially honored to have been elected as a fellow to the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC). ACTEC is a professional organization consisting of premier estate planning attorneys across the nation who contribute their expertise and efforts to the betterment of the profession. Carol has continued to serve on ACTEC’s Estate and Gift Tax Committee since 2005.
Carol was selected for the Executive Committee of the Trusts and Estates Section of the California State Bar, and acted as the Chair of its Education Committee from 2000-2003. She was also the Chair of the Tax Exempt Organizations Committee of the California State Bar’s Taxation Section and headed its Washington D.C. delegation. Carol is the Co-author of a chapter in the CEB’s Advising California Nonprofit Corporations publication.
In the local community, Carol was on the Board of Directors of the San Diego Make-A-Wish Foundation, and acted as its Secretary during her tenure. She also served on the Planned Giving Committee for a number of nonprofits, including the San Diego Make-A-Wish Foundation; University of California, San Diego; and the San Diego History Center at Balboa Park. Carol received the State Bar of California’s Wiley W. Manuel Award for Pro Bono Legal Services, and the San Diego Volunteer Program’s Distinguished Service Award.
Education and Memberships
UCLA, cum laude, B.A.
USC, J.D.
California CPA (inactive)
California State Bar
San Diego County Bar Association
