Needs-Based Public Benefits & Special Needs Trusts

Janice Sternfeld earned her Juris Doctor degree from Empire College of Law in 2002, graduating Magna Cum Laude.  She has a B.S. in occupational therapy from Texas Woman’s University. Ms. Sternfeld worked in health care settings as a registered occupational therapist for more than twenty years before becoming an attorney. This background gives her law practice a unique perspective on the issues seniors and their families face and the resources available to them.

Her practice emphasizes elder law issues including estate planning (wills, trusts, durable powers of attorney, advance health care directives), special needs trusts, Medi-Cal planning, and probate conservatorships. 

Ms. Sternfeld attends California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform Attorney Trainings annually for updates on Medi-Cal and Special Needs Trusts. 

Ms. Sternfeld has volunteered with many groups providing services to seniors, and—until the pandemic shut down in-person meetings—she taught monthly classes for the general public on Advance Health Care Directives at Kaiser in Santa Rosa. 

Ms. Sternfeld lives in Santa Rosa with her husband, youngest daughter and two crazy dogs.  Her eldest daughter is a pediatric medical resident in New Mexico.