Mediation: A rewarding alternative for divorce, family, and child custody resolution
Estate Planning: Understanding individual and common goals enhances planning in designing wills & trusts
Patsy K. Schiff opened her estate planning law practice in Sacramento in 1983. She began training in mediation early in her practice and has since been practicing both as an attorney and mediator in the areas of estate planning and family law. She has dedicated herself to learning effective dispute resolution, mediation, and communication skills to assist her clients as efficiently and compassionately as possible. Whether helping clients negotiate agreements in mediation for divorce or dissolution, or helping clients design an effective estate plan, she uses the tools of clarifying communication to help clients assess their goals and options and communicate with each other. Patsy also emphasizes education about the law that applies to the clients’ situation, whether family law rules, community property laws, or estate and tax laws, so that clients can be as informed as possible in their decision-making and negotiation process. Patsy has worked with clients in the greater Sacramento and Northern California area for many years. Because of her years of experience, she is able to maximize efficiency to save time and money for the clients.

My purpose
As an attorney and mediator, it is my goal to empower people to make their own decisions. My clients are the decision makers, and I assist them by ensuring they have all of the information they need, and then guiding them through a step-by-step process. Necessary information includes the legal information that I share, the concrete information that I have them bring in – assets and liabilities; income and expense, and the personal information about their own sense of fairness. I share options that I have learned from working with hundreds of clients. I facilitate the clients’ negotiations; I do not arbitrate decisions.