Sign up for the Trusts & Estates Law Section Spring Meeting program!
Saddling Up for What’s Next: Future-Proofing the T&E Practitioner
Join the New York State Bar Association’s Trusts and Estates Law Section in Austin, Texas, for our 2026 destination Spring Meeting. Against the vibrant backdrop of the Lone Star State, this year’s program takes a bold look at the future of trusts and estates practice. From AI-powered office tools and fiduciary reforms to emerging ethical duties and the evolving role of the generalist, we’ll explore the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. With a mix of forward-looking panels, deep practical insights, and the ever-popular Breakfast with the Surrogates, we’re saddling up for what’s next—and we hope you’ll ride along.
WHO WE ARE
Become a member in one of NYSBA’s largest Sections and share insights as you help make ground- breaking developments happen. Through our members, the Trusts & Estates Sections has a clear record of influencing positive change for the legal industry and legislation, at both the state and federal levels.
Section members may submit articles for publication in the Trusts and Estates Law Section Newsletter and questions for a Q&A column.
Top-notch MCLE programs allow Section members to enjoy both social and substantive aspects of membership. Post practice-related questions or assist other members by participation in the member-only online Community Forum. Join and take full advantage of opportunities to serve on committees, such as Estate Planning, Estate & Trust Administration, Surrogate’s Court or Charitable Planning. Work on projects such as technology for the trusts and estates practice, and ethical checklists for the trusts and estates practitioner.
SECTION BENEFITS
- Continuing legal education programing in all areas of estate planning and administration and estate litigation
- Networking opportunities with local and regional colleagues and Surrogate’s Courts
- Career development
- Serve and grow
- Submit an article for publications in the Trusts & Estates Law Journal
SECTION CONTENT – For Members Only
- Publications, including the quarterly Trusts & Estates Law Journal
- Section online community-communicate with experienced attorneys and professional leaders
Section Committees
Join and take full advantage of opportunities to serve on committees, such as Estate Planning, Estate & Trust Administration, Surrogate’s Court or Charitable Planning. Work on projects such as legislation involving wills and trusts, technology for the trusts and estates practice, and ethical checklists for the trusts and estates practitioner.
Contact the Trusts and Estates Law Section Liaison
To learn more about this Section, please contact Kate France
kfrance@nysba.org
(518) 487-5580
Please do not contact the Section liaison with a request for legal advice or an attorney referral. You can instead visit our ‘Public Resources’ or ‘Lawyer Referral Service’ page for this type of request.
TARA ANNE PLEAT, ESQ.
“AV” rated by Martindale-Hubbell—the highest rating for expertise and ethics
given by the independent rating service of the legal profession.
TARA ANNE PLEAT, Esq., CELA, practices law in upstate New York in the Saratoga/Adirondack region. She practices in the areas of special needs estate planning and administration, traditional estate planning and administration, and long-term care planning. Tara is currently serving as Chair of the Trusts and Estates Law Section of the New York State Bar Association. She is also a past Chair of the Elder Law and Special Needs Section of the New York State Bar Association and remains active on the Elder Law and Special Needs Legislation Committee.
She is the Immediate Past President of the Special Needs Alliance. She is also a Member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys where she serves on the Special Needs Steering Committee and the Federal Advocacy Committee. In addition to these national roles, she proudly serves as a Member of the ARC of New York’s statewide Guardianship Committee.
In March of 2016, Tara was elected as a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) where she now serves as the Upstate New York Chair and the Chair of the Mid-Atlantic Region, and currently serves as a Regent of the College. Tara has been an adjunct professor of law at Albany Law School for more than ten years, where she teaches a course in the spring semester on planning for the elderly and individuals with special needs. In 2025 she joined the adjunct faculty of the University of Miami where she will teach a course on Elder Law for its LLM in Estate Planning. She is a co-author of the Lexis-Nexis Publication, New York Elder Law.
In 2023, Tara was honored to receive the National Academy of Elder Law Attorney’s Powley Elder Law Award which is presented to a NAELA member who has demonstrated a commitment to promote, in the months of the public, a greater understanding of the rights and needs of older Americans and people with special needs and of how elder attorneys advocate for those rights.
In May of 2024, Tara joined the Elder Law Committee of the Editorial Board of Trusts and Estates Magazine.
*This certification is not granted by any governmental authority within the State of New York.
Awards
2026 Rising Star Fellowship
Applications are open for the 2026 New York State Bar Association Trusts and Estates Rising Star Fellowship. This is a great opportunity for junior attorneys to become an active part of the New York trusts and estates community.
To be eligible for the Fellowship, applicants must have between three (3) and six (6) years of relevant legal experience.
All applications should be sent to the co-chairs of the Membership Committee to Meaghan Feenan at mfeenan@harrisbeachmurtha.com and Nicole Clouthier at nclouthier@woh.com
Deadline Extended: Thursday, November 27, 2025
Fellowships
2026 Trusts and Estates Law Section Fellowship
The Fellowship Program will provide students an opportunity to experience trusts and estates law practice in this public sector. The ultimate goal of the Fellowship is to create a network and forge relationships among trusts and estates law attorneys throughout the State of New York. Fellowships will be offered each Summer (June – August) in various locations across the state in the Chambers of a Surrogate Court Judge. Information on which Surrogates will be hosting Fellowships may be found on the application.
Application Deadline: Monday, February 16, 2026
COVID-19: Execution of Estate Planning Documents: Perspectives and Thoughts on How this Will Affect Our Practice
Speakers:
Jill Beier, Esq., Beier PLLC, Lake Placid, NY
Deborah Kearns, Esq., Chief Clerk, Albany County Surrogates Court
Tara Anne Pleat, Esq., Wilcenski & Pleat, PLLC, Clifton Park, NY
Moderator:
Patricia J. Shevy, Esq., The Shevy Law Firm, LLC, Albany, NY
Power of Attorney Forms- Updated for 2021
New York State recently reformed the statutory short form power of attorney for purposes of financial and estate planning, effective June 13, 2021. The changes are designed to simplify the POA form, allow for substantially compliant language as opposed to exact wording, provide safe-harbor provision for good-faith acceptance of an acknowledged POA, and allow sanctions for those who unreasonably refuse to accept a valid POA. In addition, there are also a number of technical amendments.
Product Features
- This version of the New York State Statutory Power of Attorney is formatted for Microsoft Word or Lexis Nexis.
- Users simply utilize the tab key to enter information into the fields included.
- Suggested language for permissible modifications is provided in a separate document and may be copied and pasted into the Power of Attorney form.
- Frequently Asked Questions are provided to assist with the user experience along with an introduction articulating basic guidance for the form.
Links of Interest
- Internet Law Library: Trusts & Estates
The Internet Law Library was originally provided by the U. S. House of Representatives Law Revision Counsel Office. When the House of Representatives discontinued hosting the Library, several others (including lawguru.com) were allowed to carry it.
- Thomas:U.S. House of Representatives’ Resource on Senate & House Bills in the current legislative session.
- FedWorld
Access to government information services including search engines
- State Probate Statutes on the Internet
Cornell Law School’s links to sources of state probate law.
- Findlaw’s Wills, Trusts, Estates, & Probate Primary Materials and Government Resources, Journals, Newsletters and Articles, Mailing Lists and Usenet Groups.
- New York State Laws
- New York’s Estates, Powers & Trusts Law
- Tax Related Sites
- National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR)composed of local coalitions and immigrant, community, religious, civil rights and labor organizations and activists. It serves as a forum to share information an analysis, to educate communities and the general public, and to develop and coordinate plans of action on important immigrant and refugee issues.
- The Law Engine
This resarch reference site contains many links to law sites, publications, forms, etc
- The Federal Courts
- State Law Resources
Some Useful Places To Go for Specific Pieces of Information
- Kelley Blue Book Pricing on new and used cars for those who do not subscribe. Can get car prices for estate tax returns on line.
- IRS Pub. 78 The IRS has published Pub. 78, which lists the charitable exempt organizations, on its web site. There is a search engine, and you can search by name and/or location.
- Savings Bond Info Treasury Department’s Savings Bond info – all you ever wanted to know about the legal and financial aspects of Savings Bonds. Download the Savings Bond Wizard which allows you to mamange a portfolio of bonds in an estate.
- Birth, Death & Marriage Certificates Where to go for those lost birth, death or marriage certificates.
Section Pamplets
LEGALEase Pamphlets produced by the NYSBA Elder and Trusts and Estates Law Sections. Click the link below to download.
