Hon. David A. Garcia (Ret.) has been a full time neutral at JAMS since 2003, and prior to that served 20 distinguished years on San Francisco’s municipal and superior courts. Known for his energy, intelligence, and thoughtful decision-making, he successfully blends his technical expertise in estate, probate, and trust matters involving complex property and income, and high emotional content to help parties resolve disputes.
Judge Garcia has mediated and arbitrated numerous matters involving will contests, trust amendments, creditor claims, breach of fiduciary duty, distribution of property including personal property and businesses, among others. Judge Garcia is fluent in Spanish as well as English.
Representative Matters - Complex community property dispute involving distribution of dividends from trust and resolution of long term spousal support issues; estate valued at $100 million
- Discovery Referee of consolidated actions involving a trust dispute regarding alleged breaches of fiduciary duty, and, separately, regarding entitlement to occupancy and ownership of Napa Valley ranch
- Mediated the negotiation of a marital settlement agreement involving community property interest in multiple real estate properties acquired during the course of matrimony, and entitlement to proceeds from the sale of the family home; resolution of dissolution actions pending in Nevada and California
- Resolved an inheritance dispute regarding the division of properties among several brothers; mediation conducted in Spanish
Trust, estate, and interrelated partnership dispute in a multigenerational family owned business that included entitlement to Sonoma County ranch; trust and estate valued in excess of $35 million - Probate dispute regarding amended trust and related will between original and successive charitable beneficiaries; valued at $15 million
Family trust dispute regarding entitlement to works of art valued at $20 million dollars, including claims of heirs and beneficiaries to trust and competing claims by heirs of artist - Mediated intra-family trust dispute regarding breaches of fiduciary duty, supervised sale of commercial property comprising primary asset, and supervised accounting of trust expenditures
