25 March 2019 - Firm News
Helen S. Cheng
Partner | San Diego, San Francisco
Helen is a partner in the private client and tax team.
She is a trusts and estates attorney who focuses on exempt organizations and international tax planning for inbound and outbound transactions. She assists clients in all aspects of estate planning, estate and trust administration and charitable planning.
Helen brings a diversity of experience to her clients. After graduating from Stanford Law School, she practiced international corporate tax law in China and California where she worked with multinational corporations, such as Oracle, Intel and Seagate, on sophisticated international tax planning techniques. Helen is also certified as a specialist in estate planning, trust, and probate law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization.
Previously, Helen worked at the San Diego Zoo to create its licensing and technology transfer program. She was directly responsible for the creation of the San Diego Zoo Global Centre for Bioinspiration and worked with companies such as Procter & Gamble, WD-40, Nike and Qualcomm to develop technologies inspired by nature.
Helen currently serves as chair of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners San Diego Branch (STEP SD) and on the STEP USA board of directors. She is also general counsel for the International Community Foundation and a board member at the Balboa Art Conservation Center.
Admissions
Publications
Memberships
Talks
State of California, 2000
‘UBTI Proposed Regulations Answer Some Questions but Raise Others,’ Tax Notes - July 13, co-author
‘New tax legislation establishes flat tax on investment income of private foundations,’_ Thomson Reuters’ Taxnet Pro - January 30, 2020, co-author
‘Withers update on California and federal legislative activity affecting estate taxes,’ Insight __ - June 19, 2019, co-author
STEP San Diego, Branch Chair
STEP USA, Board of Directors
International Community Foundation, General Counsel
‘Wine Not? California’s New Decanting Act,’ San Luis Obispo County Bar Association webinar - February 24, 2021, co-presenter
‘Powers of Appointment: Everything You Need to Know From the Planning and Litigation Perspectives,’ Orange County Bar Association, Trusts & Estates Section webinar - August 12, 2020, co-presenter
‘International Estate and Gift Taxation,’ American Bar Association Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Section (ABA RPTE) webinar - September 17, 2019, co-presenter
Education
Languages
- English