Chris began his professional career working as a family law paralegal helping clients navigate the emotional and financial difficulties associated with the dissolution of marriages, legal separations, child custody, child support modifications, and determinations of parentage.  After 5 years as a family law paralegal, Chris transitioned his paralegal skills to a different area of the law:  Estates and Trusts. 

 During his 15 years as an Estate and Trust Paralegal, Chris gained extensive experience handling complex gift and estate tax and fiduciary accounting issues and preparation of estate and gift tax returns.  Chris has come to appreciate the important relationship between estate and trust legal professionals and fiduciary accounting professionals and how to provide excellent client service as efficiently as possible.  His extensive experience gathering relevant date of death valuation information, preparing gift and estate tax returns, identifying relevant issues, and helping clients navigate emotionally and financially difficult times following the death of a friend or family member, makes him uniquely qualified to assist clients.  

 Chris originally joined Hellam Varon in 2016. But when he made a move back to his hometown of Selah, WA in 2018, Hellam Varon was not yet equipped for fully remote work.  So, Chris resumed his career as an estate and trust paralegal for the following 6 years.  However, one of the benefits of the 2020 pandemic was Hellam Varon’s commitment to remote and hybrid work solutions. We were able to welcome Chris back to Hellam Varon and our estate and trust practice, working remotely from Selah. Now our clients benefit from Chris’ extensive background in both law and accounting. 

Chris professes to be an Eastern Washington kid at heart. In his down time, Chris and his wife, Gloria, breed, raise and train packgoats for hunting, fishing, and packing trips.  Chris can also be found in the mountains of Washington or occasionally trekking to Montana or other western states in search of deer, elk, or antelope during hunting season accompanied by a Labrador retriever or two…and of course a few packgoats! 

With his thoughtful, caring approach to working with clients and his commitment to a diverse professional background, we couldn’t be more thrilled Chris found his way back to Hellam Varon!