Trusts and Estates Law Section Chair Aims to Provide Members With Unique Programming
4.10.2024
Patricia (Tricia) Shevy was always in the right place to become active within the New York State Bar Association. Afterall, she was raised in Watervliet, N.Y., a mere 10-minute drive from the Bar Center, although her journey to chair of the Trusts and Estates Law Section has featured several stops.
Shevy has exemplified her motto of “work hard, play hard” and accordingly has served the New York State Bar Association as vice chair of the Continuing Legal Education Committee and as a member of the Elder Law and Special Needs Section. She also co-chairs the Estates, Trusts and Tax Issues Committee and is a former chair of the Board of Editors for the Elder and Special Needs Law Journal. For Shevy, playing hard means taking a walk through the woods, reading a book, or driving for three hours so she can sing along at a concert.
Shevy said her goal as chair is to tackle issues that have not traditionally been addressed through the section’s programming, which she believes provides an invaluable benefit to its members.
“For anyone who wants to do any kind of estate planning, we have the best CLEs. We regularly put on programs for everything from basic estate planning to complex estate litigation along with anatomy of a trust, estate litigation and guardianship training, which can all be found on the association’s website.”
That is evident in the section’s agenda for this month’s spring meeting in Sonoma, California, which includes a discussion on personal use DNA kits. The influx of these kits has given rise to an increase of individuals discovering relatives who they never knew existed.
“We’re finding people who are related just because someone put their DNA on the internet and so one of our topics is how to deal with people that you find out are related to you. This program will provide best practices to protect your intended beneficiaries.”
Somewhat along the same lines, this fall’s section meeting will dive into family property matters. The meeting, which is taking place three hours west of Albany in Canandaigua in conjunction with the Elder Law and Special Needs Section, will address second family homes and lake houses. One panel will center on protecting those properties from nursing home expenses and long-term care costs while another will concentrate on how to manage disputes related to property ownership following the death of a family patriarch or matriarch. Other fall program topics include mental health and psychiatric advance directives, elder abuse and mediation in surrogate’s court.
Shevy founded her own practice 20 years ago and focuses exclusively on estate planning and administration and elder law/special needs planning.
She has been honored with the opportunity to teach all attorneys applying for admission to practice by the New York State Board of Law Examiners the basics of powers of attorney, health care proxies and trusts.
Shevy regularly speaks for the association’s Bridging the Gap series about estate planning, Will drafting and advance directives. She is also an American College of Trust and Estate Counsel fellow.
