Client Reviews for Noelle Therese Gaston

A. D. Recommends August 9, 2024

Highly Recommend! I am forever grateful for Noelle Gaston. She expertly guided me through an exceedingly complex probate case that unfolded like a soap opera! From day one, I felt confident that she had my best interests at heart and she proved it time and time again over the course of our journey together. She is professional, tenacious, and thorough. I highly recommend her and her team. Thank you Noelle!!!

Noelle Therese Gaston's Response: Thank you for taking the time to post your positive feedback. This probate case was definitely complex and I am so glad you feel like we had your best interests at heart each step of the way. Thanks for highlighting our professionalism and thoroughness. We try to keep things calm when drama unfolds; and we do our best to catch the small details that can make a difference in your case. It was a pleasure to work with you and I’m glad that we were finally able to wrap this one up. – Noelle

Paca S. Recommends January 9, 2024

Noelle is very knowledgeable and thorough Once again we find ourselves needing some legal advice for a family member's passing. I didn't hesitate to contact Noelle Gaston from the law offices of Christopher Biely. Noelle and I spoke briefly and then I sent contact info to my family member. She contacted Noelle and the made arrangements to meet the very next day. Our first experience with Noelle was my father's estate and in the 2.5 years that Noelle represented us, she was always knowledgeable and her follow through was always quick. She kept my brother and I informed of everything. About the time my father's estate was settled, my father in law passed away. We then found ourselves in a legal battle with one of my husband's relatives. We had to hire an attorney in AZ since that is where my FIL resided. Unfortunately, we did not have a good experience with that attorney. His communication was difficult, he was never prepared and we spend a lot of money and did not achieve the results that we should have. It once again showed us that we had made the correct decision in hiring Noelle Gaston. View More

Noelle Therese Gaston's Response: Thank you for taking the time to post this review. It means so much when clients trust us enough to refer us to your family and friends. It’s so important to find an attorney who you feel comfortable with. We like to keep our clients informed and engaged in their cases, so I’m glad that you highlighted our communication. We also like to keep our cases moving towards completion, so thank you for mentioning our speed. It is always a pleasure to work with you and your family. – Noelle

Concha T. Recommends January 5, 2024

The best possible outcome to a horrible situation. My father was clearly being taken advantage of by a woman half his age. What he thought was a whirlwind romance turned out to be a scam. He had sold his long-time home in California and purchased a house in Texas. When he decided to file for divorce it was discovered that she had forged a note “gifting” her sole ownership of the home, leaving him only the bills for the newly purchased furniture and appliances. My father had relocated to live with me and my husband in California. I was looking for an attorney who would be sensitive to my elderly father’s needs. I called several firms who would not touch the case being that the wife and the property were in Texas and the divorce was to be filed in California. I finally found Noelle Gaston. She immediately said she could help my dad. The case became more and more involved as the opposing counsel grew increasingly argumentative and uncooperative. He would appeal every decision and threatened sanctions when things did not go his way. At no time did Noelle ever lose her composure. She maintained her professionalism in the court room and with all interactions even as he grew more belligerent. She was always understanding of my father's needs and ensuring he understood what was going on. Thanks to Noelle, we were successful in proving the fraudulence of the deed from the now ex-wife and were able to recover my father's property, his life savings. I would highly recommend Noelle for your family law needs. View More

Noelle Therese Gaston's Response: Hi Concha, Thank you so much for your positive feedback and for taking the time to put together such a detailed review. We really appreciate the trust that you and your dad put in us at such a difficult time. Divorces with interstate issues can be complex. I'm glad we were able to get such a successful outcome for him. - Noelle

Deb M. Recommends January 5, 2024

Excellent experience dealing with Noelle. I was overwhelmed by the task of having to update a twenty year old trust. Noelle Gaston was professional, very responsive, and patient in guiding me through what was needed to revise the trust. Noelle is knowledgeable and did a wonderful job of walking me through, giving advice and assistance when I needed it especially with contacting & supplying the paperwork needed by my financial advisor. I would highly recommend Noelle and look forward to working with her as needed in the future.

Noelle Therese Gaston's Response: Thank you, Deb. An estate plan should reflect your current family situation and financial picture, so I’m glad you came to us to update your trust. I also think it’s essential for our clients to understand the plans we put together. So I’m always happy to walk through documents, answer questions, and coordinate with other advisors. We’d be happy to work with you again. - Noelle

Alyson D. Does Not Recommend October 16, 2023

run as fast and as far away as you can RUN AS FAST AND AS FAR AWAY FROM THIS LAW FIRM AS YOU CAN (Noelle Gaston & her husband Chris Biely)!!! I'm just trying to save you the extra money, time, and trouble we've been through. We hired Noelle Gaston, this law firm, December 2021 and paid $1500 up front for filing fees and publications. It was a simple probate case (1 house, all siblings in agreement, and my husband as administrator). We were going to buy the house off of the estate for appraised value as it was passed down generations (None of the siblings wanted to get rid of it.) Noelle made us hire a real estate agent, I found one, which we had to pay a percentage of the sale price to. The agent opened up the escrow and I already had my own lender, all 3 of which I worked closely with, several times a week. Financing fell through at the last minute. My husband called Noelle and told her the 4 siblings wanted to keep the house in the family, even if 3 of them needed to sign over their portion to him. She said that would be different from the CA regulated probate fee, my husband asked if she had a ballpark $, she said No, he told her "I'm not rich and I can't just willy nilly let you run away with hours." This is when it all started. On 12/27/2022 She backdated $2,585 of extraordinary fees and applied them to our case, even after a meeting we had where she said she hadn't done anything extraordinary yet, and before she did she would let us know. Some of these charges included reading emails she was just CC'd in as an FYI. When we contested the charges with her she said: this was a min charge, we could either pay the $2,585, or if we continued to contest it she would seek $4,180. When we told her we wanted the court to decide the extraordinary fees (I had several consults with other local and CA probate attorneys, who agreed these extraordinary fees were excessive), she refused to file the last court document of the probate. She then said communication had broken down between us and wanted us to voluntary sign to relieve her as counsel. We told her we just wanted to finish with her because it was almost done. She filed a motion to be relieved and charged us another $1,100 for filing it. I hired another local probate attorney to finish. He asked her for our remaining $466.89 of the fee we paid in the beginning to file the last step, she refused to give him OUR MONEY, so we had to pay another $500 filing fee and also additional fees for representation. Her extraordinary fees at this point were over $7,000. Court ordered mediation for the fees, we paid her $1966.89 in extraordinary fees, statutory fees, and the new lawyer’s fees because we just wanted to be done (after almost 2 years) with probate and try to move forward from the death of a loved one. View More

Noelle Therese Gaston's Response: Hi Alyson, Thank you for taking the time to leave your review. We appreciate all feedback, as it helps us find ways to improve. I’m sorry you had a negative experience with our firm. We try to leave lines of communication open and find compromises to get past disagreements, which I believe we have done in this case. At the same time, we respect your husband’s attorney-client privilege and our duty of confidentiality, so while I disagree with your review, I won’t discuss the specifics of his case in a public forum. If you’d like to discuss it further, please call me at 805-928-3641 or email me at noelle@bielylaw.com. Sincerely, Noelle T. Gaston