DESERT ESTATE PLANNING COUNCIL, INC.

Meet our Distinguished Judges!

Hon. Russell L. Velasquez
I was appointed to the bench in February of 2018.  During my first nine months on the bench I mostly presided over criminal trials in Indio, 21 in total with 5 murder trials.  I was then assigned to the Blythe courthouse 3 days a week where I presided over civil (small claims to unlimited), criminal, family, and traffic cases.  The other two days of the week I worked at the Indio courthouse where I covered criminal, traffic, and mostly family law matters.  For a two-year period I was a member of the habeas corpus panel for the superior court.  For a three-year period I was assigned to CEQA matters. 

In June of 2023, I was assigned full-time to Dept. PS3 which is the desert probate courtroom.  I preside over decedents’ estates cases, trust matters, guardianships, conservatorships, minors’ compromises, and elder abuse restraining orders. 

I am a past member of the Inns of Court and I have lectured on several occasions at CDTA. I have twice served as a seminar leader at the state judicial college. During the pandemic, I helped author the superior court’s protocol for remote jury trials.

I am a very serious musician who is a member of a not-so-serious cover band here in the Coachella Valley, the HighRoad Band of La Quinta. 

Finally, I was very proud to receive a Bird Award from the Desert Bar Association after my first year on the bench. 

I have quickly discovered that the probate bar in Riverside County is nothing short of fabulous.  Everyone has been extremely polite, professional, and very importantly patient with me during these first several months in probate.  It has made for a wonderful experience thus far and I am very grateful to be in this position.”

And

Hon. Kenneth Fernandez
Judge Kenneth Fernandez has served on the Riverside Superior Court bench since February 2004, when he was appointed as a Superior Court Commissioner.  He was elevated by Governor Brown to Superior Court Judge in 2018. Over the last 20 years on the bench, he has had assignments in Probate, Family Law, Juvenile Dependency, and Criminal Law.  For the last five years, he has heard a full-time Probate calendar of Estates, Trusts, Conservatorships, Guardianships, Minor’s Compromise, and Elder Abuse Restraining Orders. In 2021, he became the Supervising Judge of the Probate Division.  He also serves on his court’s Executive Committee and ADR Committee.  Judge Fernandez taught the course on Attorney Fees for the Center for Judicial Education & Research Probate Institute in September 2022 and that same month was a presenter for the CEB course “Judges Speak – Practice Before the California Probate Court.”  He is also a frequent presenter to the Riverside County Bar Association Estate Planning/Probate section.  Judge Fernandez was a member of the California Judges Association Ethics Committee from 2005 to 2007 and taught Qualifying Judicial Ethics (QE3) for the Center for Judicial Education and Research (CJER) from 2006 to 2008.  He graduated from the University of California, Davis Law School in 1992.  He received his Bachelor of Arts in Social Science from the University of California, Berkeley in 1988. 

Registration to Open January 2025

Thank You to our Platinum Sponsor!

(Must RSVP by noon Feb 6th)