Hickman, Troy J.

Richard G. Heston is a Partner in the law firm of Heston & Heston, located in Newport Beach, California. The Firm specializes in bankruptcy, family law, probate and estate planning matters. Mr. Heston is a graduate of the University of California, Irvine, where he was awarded a Bachelors Degree in Social Ecology from the Department of Criminology, Law and Society in 1976. He attended Southwestern University, School of Law where he received his Juris Doctor degree in 1979. Mr. Heston is certified as a Specialist in Family Law by the Board of Legal Specialization of the State Bar of California. In addition, he is certified as a Specialist in Consumer Bankruptcy Law by the American Board of Certification, which is sponsored by the American Bankruptcy Institute and accredited for certification by the State Bar of California and the American Bar Association.

Mr. Heston holds an "AV" rating by Martindale-Hubble, the highest rating for attorney ability and ethics offered by the nation's oldest publisher of attorney ratings. He is listed in "Who's Who in American Law." Mr. Heston is a current member of the Family Law and Commercial and Bankruptcy Law Sections of the Orange County Bar Association, the Orange County Bankruptcy Forum, the American Bankruptcy Institute, the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys, the National Association of Chapter 13 Trustees, and the Orange County Specialty Lawyers Guild. Mr. Heston served on the Personal and Small Business Bankruptcy Law Advisory Commission of the Board of Legal Specialization of the State Bar of California from 1993 to 1997, acting as Chairman in his final term. In addition, he served on the Board of Directors of the American Board of Certification from 1995 to 2001. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Orange County Bankruptcy Forum, where he co-chairs the Pro Bono Services and Community Outreach Committees. Mr. Heston also serves on the Client Relations Committee of the Orange County Bar Association, in which capacity he serves as a volunteer fee arbitrator. Additionally, he is a member of the Orange County Sheriff's Department Advisory Council, which provides volunteer support services for members of Orange County law enforcement agencies injured or killed in the line of duty and their dependent families.

Since 1988, Mr. Heston has served as panelist or speaker at the following continuing legal education programs: "Family Law vs. Bankruptcy Law, Common Pitfalls/Practical Solutions", co-sponsored by the Family Law and Bankruptcy Law Sections of the Orange County Bar Association, "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the Chapter 7 Trustees . . . But Were Afraid to Ask", sponsored by the Orange County Bankruptcy Forum, "Family Law Impact of the 1994 Bankruptcy Reform Act and Other Developments" sponsored by the Family Law Section of the Orange County Bar Association, "New Uses for Chapter 13 with Expanded Eligibility Requirements", "Intersection of Family Law & Bankruptcy", "Recent Developments Affecting Family Law: Bankruptcy and Case Law Updates", and "National Bankruptcy Review Commission Recommendations and Pending Legislative Proposals Affecting Consumer Bankruptcy" sponsored by the Consumer Practice Education Committee of the Orange County Bankruptcy Forum, "When Worlds Collide - Bankruptcy and Family Law" sponsored by the Bankruptcy Law Section and "Recent Developments in Bankruptcy Law for the Family Law Practitioner" sponsored by the Family Law Section Orange County Bar Association. Mr. Heston participated as a panelist before the Business Law Section of the State Bar of California at the First Annual Education Institute in Monterey, California in 2000 on the topic of "Exemptions in Bankruptcy", and presented the seminar "Advanced Consumer Bankruptcy Issues in California" sponsored by the National Business Institute in 2001. Most recently, he presented the program "Treatment of Support Claims in Chapter 13 Bankruptcy" before both the Orange County Bankruptcy Forum and the Family Law Section of the Orange County Bar Association in March 2003.

Mr. Heston served as a consultant and contributing editor to the newly released Personal and Small Business Bankruptcy Practice in California (Cont.Ed.Bar 1^st ed. 2003), published by Continuing Education of the Bar (CEB) in association with the University of California. Articles written by Mr. Heston include "How to Escape from Bankruptcy Court", published in the June 1994 edition of Family Law Corner column, a monthly feature of Orange County Lawyer, the publication of the Orange County Bar Association, "Family Law Aspects of the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1994", which appeared in the April 1995 Family Law Corner column, and the Spring 1995 Edition of the Legal Specialization Digest, the quarterly publication of the Board of Legal Specialization of the State Bar of California, and most recently his article Discharge - What Discharge? The "Community Discharge" in Bankruptcy appeared in the December 2000 Family Law Corner column.

Mr. Heston is admitted to practice before all courts of the State of California, as well as the United States District Courts for the Central, Northern and Southern Districts of California, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Tax Court. Mr. Heston's practice emphasizes the fields of family law and bankruptcy law. He has handled numerous bankruptcy matters, including cases under Chapters 7, 11, and 13, as well as adversarial litigation. Mr. Heston regularly serves as appointed as special counsel to several of the Chapter 7 trustees by orders of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California. His reported appellate decisions include In re Beauchamp, 236 B.R. 727 (9th Cir.BAP 1999), affirmed at 5 Fed.Appx. 743, 2001 WL 246057 (9th Cir. Mar 12, 2001), Burt v. County of Orange 2004 WL 1462221 (Cal.App. 4 Dist.); In re Kullgren 109 B.R. 949 (Bkrtcy.C.D.Cal.1990), and In re Marriage of McCann (1996) 41 Cal.App.4th 978, 48 Cal.Rptr.2d 864.

Mr. Heston is married to Halli B. Heston, who in addition to being his Partner in Heston & Heston is certified as a Personal and Small Business Bankruptcy Law Specialist. A resident of Newport Beach since 1959, Mr. and Mrs. Heston have a daughter and two sons.