Kelly K. Dixon

Senior Attorney

Contact Information

Phone: (415) 909-4007
Fax: (628) 280-6514 
Email: [email protected]

Practice Areas

• Elder Abuse
• Estate & Trust Litigation
• Conservatorships
• Estate and Trust Administration

Since her first day as a practicing lawyer in 1998, when she dove right into a contested Will case, Kelly has loved helping clients navigate the legally and often emotionally complex world of Probate Law. After ten years of representing clients in all aspects of conservatorship proceedings, decedent's estates, trust administration, probate litigation, estate planning, and related areas, Kelly took time off to raise her children.

In 2013, Kelly began working with Liza de Vries at the Scott Law Firm. Kelly's Probate experience and Liza's elder abuse and civil rights practice were a natural fit. Teaming up to divide the labor where probate matters require litigation, Kelly and Liza balance sensitivity and respect for elders' choices with a creative approach to fierce advocacy when needed. In 2020, Kelly joined Liza to launch De Vries Law, P.C.

Throughout her career, Kelly has represented elders in many capacities. She has served as a former member of the panel of attorneys appointed by the San Francisco Probate Court to represent proposed conservatees, their family members, and loved ones, whether acting as a fiduciary or an informal advocate. Kelly has extensive experience representing private professional fiduciaries acting as conservators, trustees, and personal representatives. And Kelly has worked for beneficiaries of estates and trusts who need legal representation to protect their rights or recover stolen property. And, she consults and does estate-planning for individuals seeking guidance and advice to plan for their and their family's futures.

In all she does, Kelly's focus is to protect an elder's autonomy and dignity while balancing the need for formal assistance to maintain health and safety. Her goal is to support and guide individuals and families as they wend their way through Probate proceedings and estate-planning journeys that often bring long-simmering family dynamics to the surface.

Kelly's Track Record

• Kelly has represented clients in proceedings in Probate Courts in San Francisco and the surrounding Bay Area Counties for fifteen years and has appeared in Court hundreds of times.
• Kelly has vast experience drafting petitions that were adjudicated positively for her clients, including petitions for the establishment of temporary and general Probate conservatorships; petitions filed within conservatorship proceedings, such as for the establishment of estate plans for conservatees; petitions for the recovery of assets stolen from conservatees, estates, and trusts utilizing Probate Code authorities as well as the provisions of the Elder Adult and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act and other relevant law; petitions to reform, modify, or terminate trusts, or concerning aspects of trust management (or, mismanagement) by trustees; petitions for the removal and surcharge of nefarious trustees, petitions for the probate of estates; complex reports and accounts of fiduciaries, including conservators and personal representatives of estates; Spousal Property petitions; and, oppositions to petitions in these areas that were filed by other parties.
• Kelly has advised Adult Protective Services case managers and social workers from other agencies and organizations supporting elders and dependent adults on strategies to protect vulnerable individuals, while always striving to implement the least-restrictive and most dignity-preserving solutions.
• Kelly and Liza have recovered millions of dollars for beneficiaries of estates and trusts, with Kelly contributing her Probate, elder law, and estate-planning knowledge and experience to formulate and execute litigation successes.