Christopher D. Carico

Christopher D. Carico is a partner at the law firm of Carico Macdonald Kil & Benz in El Segundo, California. For the past 34 years, Mr. Carico has represented clients in complex trusts and estates matters with a particular emphasis on estate planning for high net-worth clients and dispute resolution over inheritances. Mr. Carico has served multiple times as a court-appointed expert (Los Angeles County Superior Court) to assist the parties in resolving protracted intra-family trust and estate litigation. Mr. Carico has been certified by the State Bar of California, Board of Legal Specialization as a certified specialist in estate planning, trust, and probate law for the past 28 years.

Mr. Carico is a respected expert on financial elder abuse issues. He is a past member of Trusts & Estates Executive Committee (TEXCOM) of the California State Bar and California Lawyers Association. Mr. Carico chaired TEXCOM’S Educating Seniors Project and designed and launched TEXCOM’S annual financial elder abuse symposium, which is now in its fifth year. He is a frequent contributing author to the California Trusts and Estates Quarterly and has lectured extensively on issues relating to financial elder abuse and estate planning to avoid financial elder abuse. Mr. Carico established and ran the guardian pro per panel for the probate division of the Compton branch of the Los Angeles County Superior Court, providing pro bono legal services to family members seeking guardianships over loved ones.

For the past decade, Mr. Carico has been recognized in U.S. News & World Report/Best Lawyers in America, Southern California Super Lawyers Magazine, and Martindale Hubbell for his accomplishments in the fields of trusts and estates, and trusts and estates litigation.  

Mr. Carico’s wife, Keli received her bachelor’s degree (major, behavioral science; minor, linguistics) from California State University, Dominguez Hills, attending class in the evenings while raising their three children. Mr. Carico’s mother, Suzanne, returned to college after raising her two sons, receiving her second bachelor’s degree (Art History) from California State University, Dominguez Hills. Mr. Carico received his bachelor’s degree (major, economics) from Occidental College (1983) and his juris doctorate from Loyola Law School (1987) where he graduated cum laude, Order of the Coif. Mr. Carico is a southern California native, grew up in Manhattan Beach and continues to live there with his family.