Brian G. Seastrom

When everything you’ve built is at stake, including your business, your wealth, your children, your privacy, you need more than a competent lawyer. You need a strategic advisor who understands the financial sophistication of your life, who will be unflinchingly honest with you even when it’s hard to hear, who will be your fierce advocate in negotiations or the courtroom, and who will guide you through the process with the kind of calm, measured judgment that protects both your assets and your wellbeing.

That’s what Brian Seastrom delivers.

Brian is the President of Seastrom Tuttle Murphy Dockstader, one of California’s most respected family law firms. He represents high-net-worth individuals, CEOs, business owners, executives, physicians, and other professionals in complex divorce, custody, and property division matters throughout Orange County and Southern California. He has spent over two decades building a practice defined by one principle: achieve the best possible outcome for the client while treating everyone in the process, including the opposing party, with integrity and professionalism.

His clients don’t just remember the result. They remember how they felt throughout the process. And that’s what sets Brian apart.

“From our very first consultation, I knew he was different. His polished approach, depth of experience, and compassionate demeanor made me feel supported and reassured in a difficult time. Brian didn’t just hear my concerns — he listened with care and took the time to understand the unique challenges I faced. He was clear and transparent about my options, even when they weren’t ideal. His impressive list of accolades speaks for itself, but it’s his thoughtful, measured approach that truly sets him apart.” — Nikki, Google Review

“After firing two divorce attorneys and burning a few hundred thousand dollars, I was referred to Brian by my corporate counsel. He was pivotal in helping end my nightmare. He brings a no-nonsense calm approach to the very trying experience of divorce. He is well respected in the legal community by his colleagues and judges. His communication style is honest and direct — it motivates a business approach to resolution.” — Steve, Google Review

“This family law practice is excellent. Led by my personal attorney and head of the firm, Brian Seastrom, it’s been an extremely professional experience. Brian is bright, knowledgeable, personable and delivers successful outcomes. You will do yourself a huge financial favor by retaining them.” — Robert, Business Client, Google Review

“I am a CPA and have referred several clients to Brian Seastrom for complex family law matters. He is detail-oriented, calm under pressure, and very effective in high-net-worth cases. From a professional standpoint, he is the attorney I want on my clients’ team.” — Arier, CPA, Google Review

“He gave me real and practical advice that was both honest and straight forward. Some of it was difficult to hear because it was not what I wanted. He took the time to talk me through how and why he had the advice he did and it was well thought out and logical. MOST IMPORTANTLY — he saved me money and minimized my anxiety by helping me understand that compromise and finding a positive path through this process is usually the best path. Five stars doesn’t describe enough how I feel about my experience.” — Tripp, Google Review

“Brian helped us escape an abusive situation and made sure we came out as survivors, not victims. Always being honest, fair and compassionate, I have used the firm as my backbone for everyday life. I am forever grateful.” — Client Testimonial, Best Law Firms

“Brian is an excellent attorney and a quality person. I frequently refer potential clients to him, particularly when they require sophisticated legal advice or have complex family law questions.” — Peer Attorney Review, Martindale-Hubbell

Brian’s practice is built around the sophisticated financial and legal issues that arise when significant wealth is involved in a family law matter. He regularly handles cases involving:

Business Interests & Valuation Division of closely held businesses, partnership interests, professional practices, and private equity holdings. Several of these matters have involved multi-entity structures with dozens of related entities, layered ownership across holding and operating companies, and intercompany debt that had to be reconstructed before the entities could be valued. Brian works closely with forensic accountants and business valuation experts to ensure accurate assessment and equitable division of complex business assets.

Executive Compensation Stock options, restricted stock units (RSUs), deferred compensation, carried interest, profits interests in fund and partnership structures, and performance-based incentive plans. These instruments require specialized knowledge to properly characterize, value, and divide, particularly when vesting schedules span the marriage.

Real Estate Portfolios & Investment Holdings Multi-property holdings, commercial real estate interests acquired through 1031 exchange chains, investment portfolios, and complex trust structures that intersect with community property law. Brian has deep experience navigating the interplay between estate planning and dissolution.

High-Income Support Disputes Spousal and child support matters involving extraordinary income, fluctuating compensation, and complex earning structures common among executives, entrepreneurs, and professionals.

Interstate & International Dimensions Cases involving multi-jurisdictional property, cross-border custody issues, and the intersection of California community property law with other legal frameworks. Brian is a Fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers, reflecting his expertise in matters with global complexity.

Privacy-Sensitive & High-Profile Matters Brian understands that for executives, public figures, and prominent families, discretion is paramount. He and his team take deliberate steps to protect client privacy throughout the legal process, from the initial consultation through final resolution.

Mediation Brian mediates high-net-worth and business-owner dissolutions throughout California. He is an AAML Certified Family Law Mediator and was named Best Lawyers Lawyer of the Year for Family Law Mediation in Orange County for 2026. Because he tries these cases as well, the financial questions get worked through in the room rather than deferred, and the agreements are built to hold up. He designs structures a litigated result cannot, including allocations shaped around tax treatment.

These matters come from a relatively narrow set of industries. Most often private equity and venture capital, investment management and financial services, technology, healthcare and professional practices, real estate development and construction, manufacturing, franchise and hospitality operations, automotive dealerships, and agriculture.

Financially complex family law matters turn on a relatively small number of recurring technical issues. The ones that come up most often in this practice include the following.

• Valuation of closely held operating companies and professional practices
• Apportionment of a premarital business under Pereira and Van Camp
• Personal goodwill and entity goodwill
• Reasonable owner compensation
• Normalization of nonrecurring expenses
• Selection and stress-testing of the capitalization rate
• Buy-sell agreements and spousal consents
• Partnership and LLC interests with transfer restrictions
• Private equity and venture fund interests
• Carried interest, including distributions received after separation
• Future capital calls and unfunded commitments
• Management fee and profits-interest allocations
• Characterization and division of stock options and restricted stock units
• Vesting schedules spanning the date of separation
• Deferred compensation and non-qualified plans
• Change-in-control and severance provisions
• Determination of cash flow available for support
• Extraordinary and fluctuating income
• The high earner exception to guideline child support
• Imputation of income on assets and on an underemployed spouse
• Tracing of separate property through commingled accounts
• Tracing of inherited funds
• Transmutation and the writing requirement
• Reimbursement claims for separate property contributed to community assets
• Revocable and irrevocable trusts holding marital assets
• Irrevocable life insurance trusts
• Qualified personal residence trusts and charitable remainder trusts
• Family limited partnerships
• Multi-property and commercial real estate portfolios
• Interstate and cross-border property and jurisdictional disputes
• Breach of fiduciary duty and misappropriation of community assets
• Undisclosed and understated income
• Premarital and postmarital agreement enforceability
• Structured buyouts, equalization notes, and security for payment
• Tax treatment of transfers under Internal Revenue Code section 1041
• Basis, phantom income, and the tax consequences of a proposed division
• Valuation of intellectual property, art, aircraft, and marine vessels

Brian’s clients consistently describe the same experience: a calm, confident advisor who develops strategy rather than unnecessary conflict.

He believes that the strongest negotiated or litigated outcomes are usually achieved not through aggression, but through preparation, credibility, and strategic positioning. Brian’s reputation with judges and opposing counsel throughout Orange County means he negotiates from a position of strength, and when litigation is necessary, he brings the same measured, thorough approach to the courtroom.

He also believes that his clients deserve transparency about their options, about realistic outcomes, and about costs. Clients note that Brian actively helped them manage legal expenses by focusing on strategic resolution rather than prolonging conflict and litigation. This business-minded approach to family law is one reason he is trusted by corporate counsel, CPAs, and wealth advisors who refer their most important clients to him.

Brian deliberately limits the number of clients he represents at any given time. This ensures that every client receives his personal attention, direct involvement, and the level of care that their situation demands.

What kinds of cases do you take?

Divorces where the financial picture is complicated enough that the answer is not obvious. Business owners, executives with concentrated equity, physicians and professionals with practice interests, families whose assets sit inside entities and trusts. I also take cases that are financially simple and factually brutal, because sometimes the hardest part of a case is a custody fight and not a balance sheet. What I do not take is volume work. I keep the number of clients low enough that I am the one reading the expert report.

What do you do differently when there is a closely held business?

I get the valuation work started before I need it, and I get involved in it rather than waiting for a report to arrive. Most of what determines the number in a business valuation is a series of judgment calls made early, on owner compensation, on what gets normalized, on the capitalization rate, on whether a premarital company gets apportioned under Pereira or Van Camp. If the first time your lawyer engages with those choices is when the report lands, the case has already been decided by somebody else.

I also think about the company as a going concern and not just an asset on a schedule. Litigation reaches a business through subpoenas to its bank and its accountant, depositions of its CFO, and a public file that lenders and senior employees can read. Some of the worst damage in these cases has nothing to do with the division of property.

You both litigate and mediate. How do you decide which one a case needs?

Honestly, and early, and I am willing to tell a client the answer they did not want. Mediation works when both sides will negotiate in good faith with accurate information. When someone will not produce documents, or will not engage with a financial professional, or has spent the marriage controlling the other spouse, mediation will lock in the unfairness that already exists and I say so.

When it does fit, it produces things a court cannot. A judge can divide property, order a sale, or assign a value with an equalization payment. A judge cannot write you a five-year structured buyout secured against stock and amortized against the company’s real cash flow. That deal gets built across a table.

The reason I keep doing both is that each one makes the other work. A lawyer who never tries cases has no leverage in a negotiation, and opposing counsel knows exactly who that is. A lawyer who only litigates will take you to a trial date you did not need.

What do you tell a client who wants to fight?

That I will fight, and that I am going to make him look at what it costs first. Not the fees, although those are real. The cost is two years of making decisions about a company while a case is open, and a public file, and children who watch their parents do this.

I have also told clients to fight when they came in wanting to settle. Someone who is frightened will take a bad deal to make the fear stop, and part of my job is to be the person in the room who is not frightened.

What is the mistake you see most often?

Hiring for temperament and finding out later about capability. People interview lawyers about communication style and aggression, both of which matter, and then discover eight months in that nobody on the file understands how their equity compensation vests. The technical questions are the ones that are hard to ask and easy to check.

While Brian leads the strategy for each of his client’s cases, he is supported by an exceptional team of attorneys and professionals who extend the same level of care, responsiveness, and professionalism. Clients regularly praise the work of his colleagues, including shareholder Emily Erickson and his team’s long-standing paralegal, Alison, for their attention to detail, their accessibility, and their ability to make a daunting process feel manageable.

The firm also maintains deep relationships with leading forensic accountants, business valuators, real estate appraisers, vocational evaluators, custody specialists, and other experts essential to complex family law matters. This network allows Brian to assemble the right team for each client’s specific situation.

Brian’s peers, both attorneys and judges, consistently recognize him as one of the leading family law practitioners in California. These distinctions reflect the regard in which he is held across the profession:

Elite National & International Fellowships

• Fellow, American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) — Membership is limited to attorneys who pass a rigorous peer-review process and are recognized as among the top family law lawyers in the nation.
• Fellow, International Academy of Family Lawyers (IAFL) — An exclusive global network of the most experienced family law attorneys, with expertise in international divorce, cross-border custody, and jurisdictional disputes.

Peer-Reviewed Rankings

• Best Lawyers “Lawyer of the Year” — Family Law, Orange County (2027) — Awarded to a single attorney per practice area per region.
• Best Lawyers “Lawyer of the Year” — Family Law Mediation, Orange County (2026) — Awarded to a single attorney per practice area per region.
• Super Lawyers — Top 5 Family Law, Southern California (2026) — Placing him among the five highest-rated family law attorneys across all of Southern California.
• Super Lawyers — Top 100 Lawyers in Southern California (2024–2027) — Among the top 100 attorneys across all practice areas in Southern California.
• Super Lawyers — Top 50 Lawyers in Orange County (2021–2027) — Among the top 50 lawyers across all practice areas in the county.
• Super Lawyers Selection (2015–2027) — 13 consecutive years. Rising Star (2012–2014).
• Best Lawyers in America — Family Law & Family Law Mediation (2020–present)
• Lawdragon 500 Leading Family Lawyers (2020–present) — A national list of the country’s best advisors in divorce and high-stakes family law.
• Doyle’s Guide — Preeminent, Leading Family, Matrimonial and Divorce Lawyers, Orange County (2026) — The top tier, held by four attorneys in the county.
• Doyle’s Guide — Preeminent Family & Divorce Lawyer, California (2025)
• AV Preeminent® Rating, Martindale-Hubbell — The highest possible designation for legal ability and ethical standards.
• U.S. News “Best Law Firms” — Tier 1, Family Law — Awarded to the firm year after year.

Leadership and Certifications in the Profession

• Commissioner, California Judicial Nominee Evaluation Commission (2019–2022) — Evaluating and recommending candidates for judicial appointment to the Governor.
• Chair, Family Law Advisory Commission, State Bar of California (2017) — Led the commission that writes and grades the California Family Law Specialist certification exam. Member 2013–2016.
• Certified Family Law Specialist, California Board of Legal Specialization (2008)
• President, Orange County Bar Association Family Law Section (2011)
• Certified Family Law Mediator, American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers
• Board Member, Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Orange County

Selected Writing

• Dividing a Business With Dozens of Related Entities in a California Divorce
• Executive Compensation in Divorce: How California Divides RSUs, Options, Deferred Comp, and Golden Parachutes
• Litigating Private Equity Positions in Divorce: What the Financial Analysis Actually Requires
• Why Business Owners Choose Mediation Over Litigation
• High-Net-Worth Divorce in Orange County: Strategies to Protect Your Assets, Business and Privacy

• Juris Doctor — Loyola Law School, Los Angeles (2002)
• Bachelor of Arts, Philosophy — Loyola Marymount University (1998)
• Admitted to the California State Bar, 2002

• In re Marriage of Drake, (2015) 241 Cal.App.4th 934

Brian is regularly invited to present to prestigious legal organizations on complex family law topics, including the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and the Association of Certified Family Law Specialists. Selected presentations include:

• Why Business Owners Choose Mediation Over Litigation (2026)
• “Litigating Private Equity Positions in Divorce: What the Financial Analysis Actually Requires” (2026)
• “Presenting Complex Trials/RFOs Electronically” — AAML Southern California Institute (2021)
• “A Dispute in Value — Analysis, Examination and Cross-Examination of Real Estate Appraisers” — OC Bar Association (2017)
• “Hot Tips: The Use of Screenshots in Pleadings and Practice” — AAML Institute (2017)
• “Family Law Basics, with an Emphasis on Spousal Support” — OC Bar Association (2016)
• “Domestic Violence Restraining Orders in Family Law Matters” — OC Bar Criminal Defense Section (2015)
• “Discovery and Depositions in Family Law Matters” — OC Bar Family Law Section (2013)
• “Cross-examination of Financial Experts in Family Law Matters” — OC Bar Family Law Section (2011)
• “Drafting and Litigating Premarital Agreements” — Orange County Lawyer Magazine (2002)

Taking the first step is often the hardest part. Whether you are considering divorce, navigating a custody dispute, or simply need to understand your options, Brian and his team are here to listen, with complete confidentiality, without judgment, and with the clarity you need to make informed decisions about your future.

Call: 949-474-0800 Email: info@stmlaw.com Office: 1 Park Plaza, Suite 1100, Irvine, CA 92614

All consultations are private and confidential. We understand the sensitivity of your situation and take deliberate measures to protect your privacy from the very first conversation