Practice Focus
Over the past 25 years, I have practiced exclusively in the Trusts and Estates field – estate planning, estate and gift taxation, and trust and estate administration. I have advised clients in all aspects of personal planning matters, including wills and trusts for traditional and non-traditional families, wealth transfer strategies, estate and gift taxes, business succession planning, planning for the disabled, and charitable giving. I serve as professional trustee on both traditional trusts and special needs trusts. In addition, I regularly consult with personal injury lawyers on how to best structure the recoveries they obtain for clients.
I have lectured and written about many aspect of estate planning and taxation, including presentations for the Society of Settlement Planners, Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, Boston Bar Association, National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, Suffolk Advanced Legal Studies, Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys, and Professional Educational Systems, Inc.
I have recently published a number of articles including Private Wealth (The Virtual Estate); Investment Advisor (Social Security: Managing New Claiming Strategies); Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly (Virtual Estates: Helping Clients Take Stock of Digital Assets).
Community Work
Throughout my adult life, I have been involved with my community: I was a representative town meeting member in Brookline for ten years; a founding member of the Professional Advisors Committee of The Boston Foundation, one of the nation’s oldest and largest community foundations; and a member of the Planned Giving Advisory Council of Sarah Lawrence College. I served on the Board of Directors of the ACLU of Massachusetts and also served on its Audit, Investment, and Bill of Rights Dinner Committees for many years. I have also served on the Board of Directors of Massachusetts Advocates for Children, and the Brookline Center for the Arts, and advise several non-profits on planned giving options for their donors.
Professional
Before joining AZW Law, I spent fourteen years as a shareholder at Davis, Malm & D’Agostine, P.C. Prior to that, I practiced as a member of the Private Clients Group at Hill & Barlow, and at Alexander A. Bove, Jr. P.C.
I have a Peer Review AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell; I have been a Massachusetts Super Lawyer every year from 2005-2017; a Top Woman Attorney in Massachusetts 2013-2015; and a Top 50 Women Attorneys in Massachusetts in 2012.
Outside Interests
I live in Brookline and am married to Roger Geller who I met when we were on opposite sides of a divorce matter in Suffolk Probate Court in 1978. We have two fine adult sons – Max, a community organizer in New Orleans, and Sam, a musician and bartender in NYC.
Before going to law school, I worked in the theatre in a variety of capacities in summer stock, Off-Broadway and Lincoln Center, and as assistant director of three Broadway shows – one hit (“1776”); and two flops. I studied Japanese martial arts for more than 30 years. I am currently enjoying metalsmithing classes at Brookline Center for the Arts, attending symphony and opera, and protesting.