Franza Giffen

After graduating from Michigan State University, I worked at the Legal Aid Foundation
of Santa Barbara County which inspired me to attend and graduate from Law School at
Golden Gate University. I was a Partner of Newsom and Giffen Law Offices from 1980
until 2002 and have been a real estate broker since 2004. In 1981, I was appointed as
a Probate Referee in Contra Costa County by then State Controller, Ken Cory. Every
four years since, I have been reappointed by whomever was the State Controller.
Beginning in 1998 I served as a Guardian of an elderly client and began focusing my
law practice exclusively on fiduciary services. During the past twenty years, as the
Fiduciary Licensing Bureau was established, I served as the Professional Fiduciary
Association of California, East Bay Vice President, elevated thereafter to President. My
activities as a member of PFAC have included several presentations to both my chapter
as well as to the annual conferences. Other memberships include the California Probate
Referee Association (where my presentations contained educational information) the
California State Bar and the Contra Costa County Bar Association.