Murtaugh LLP Partners Marin Bradshaw and Benjamin Schwefel Named Top Estate & Wealth Management Lawyers by Daily Journal

Bradshaw and Schwefel are profiled in the publication’s 2026 supplement recognizing California’s leading estate planning, trust and probate practitioners.

IRVINE, CA, UNITED STATES, September 17, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Southern California law firm Murtaugh LLP announced today that partners Marin Bradshaw and Benjamin R. Schwefel have been named to the Daily Journal’s 2026 list of Top Estate and Wealth Management Lawyers. Both attorneys are profiled in the publication’s special supplement recognizing leading California attorneys in estate planning, trust and estate administration, probate, fiduciary representation and litigation.

Bradshaw, Murtaugh LLP’s Co-Managing Partner, is a California State Bar Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law. Her practice spans sophisticated estate planning, complex trust and estate administration, conservatorships, fiduciary representation, and trust and probate disputes for high-net-worth individuals, trustees, beneficiaries and professional fiduciaries.

Among the matters highlighted in her profile, Bradshaw led litigation to recover more than $500,000 in trust assets transferred by a co-trustee into a company he controlled. She obtained a judgment requiring the funds to be returned, together with double damages under California Probate Code section 859, and continued representing the client through enforcement, including the sale of trust-owned commercial property.

Her planning practice includes advising an owner of multiple professional practice businesses whose estate exceeded $100 million and who had no comprehensive estate plan in place. Bradshaw developed a strategy addressing the client’s inheritance objectives across a large extended family while accounting for a complex financial picture and long-term administration considerations. She also represented a professional fiduciary administering an approximately $15 million trust following prolonged litigation, addressing commercial real estate, beneficiary, charitable and tax issues.

Schwefel is also a California State Bar Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law. He advises individuals, families, trustees, beneficiaries, professional fiduciaries, corporate trustees, trust companies and charitable organizations in estate planning, administration, probate and litigation.

His Daily Journal profile highlights a trial victory involving allegations that a trustee forged a revocable transfer-on-death deed. Schwefel prevailed for his client and secured double damages under Probate Code section 859. He subsequently defeated an effort to unwind the result and obtained an award of attorneys’ fees.

Schwefel counsels clients on significant wealth-transfer and estate administration matters. His recent work includes advising clients with taxable estates exceeding $200 million on lifetime wealth-transfer strategies, counseling multiple generations of a family whose closely held partnership owns more than $100 million in real estate, and coordinating estate planning for a business owner during a private equity transaction exceeding $30 million. He has also advised a professional fiduciary administering a trust estate exceeding $40 million involving an operating business, multiple real estate holdings and related business and fiduciary issues.

Schwefel frequently writes and speaks on developments in trusts and estates, and the Daily Journal supplement also includes his article, “Boyajian got it right. The Legislature should change the law,” addressing California law governing the revocation of wills.

Bradshaw’s and Schwefel’s recognition underscores the depth of Murtaugh LLP’s trusts and estates practice and the firm’s ability to guide clients through sophisticated planning, administration and contested matters involving substantial assets, closely held businesses, fiduciary responsibilities and complex family dynamics.

About Murtaugh LLP
Founded more than 45 years ago, Murtaugh LLP is a Southern California law firm that handles the transactional and litigation needs of businesses, families and professional firms. Its work spans complex civil litigation, business transactions, and trusts and estates, including sophisticated estate planning and high-value trust and estate disputes. Learn more at https://www.murtaughlaw.com/

Lana J Manganiello
Practice Growth Partner
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