Laura A. Kelly is a partner with the law firm of McCarter & English, LLP. She concentrates her practice in trusts and estate matters.
In addition to the drafting of wills and trusts and the administration of trusts and estates, Ms. Kelly advises high net worth clients regarding sophisticated estate planning with an emphasis on estate, gift, generation-skipping transfer and income tax planning. She assists clients with the planning and implementation of lifetime transfers of property, including the management of transfers of real estate, life insurance and partnership interests.
Ms. Kelly has lectured on a variety of estate planning topics. For several years, she taught the estate planning session presented by New Jersey Institute of Continuing Legal Education as part of the Basic Skills and Methods Class required of all attorneys newly-admitted to the New Jersey Bar. She is a regular presenter at New York University's Summer Institute in Taxation, and has been a guest lecturer at New York Law School's L.L.M. program on the subject of estate taxes. Other presentations include "An Estate-Planning Checklist: What Women Should Know" at the Financial Conference sponsored byGarden State Woman magazine and on "Decedents' Accounts" for the New Jersey Bankers' League. She was an instructor in "Preliminary Matters: Drafting the Will," the first in a six-part series of lectures on estate planning sponsored by Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, from 1997 to 2002. Ms. Kelly was a contributing author to Understanding and Using Trusts, published by Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education in 2001 and updated in 2008, and to Breaking the Code of Wealth Management, published by ABN-AMRO Bank, N.V. Her article "When is a Gift not a Gift?", explaining grantor retained annuity trusts, appeared in Garden State Woman magazine.
Ms. Kelly was selected as a member of the inaugural class of Bergen LEADS, a class of 30 men and women - aspiring and acknowledged leaders of broadly diverse backgrounds - who met monthly over ten months to dissect issues, debate viewpoints and develop approaches to problems facing the Bergen County, NJ community. Ms. Kelly continues her involvement with Bergen LEADS by serving on the program's steering committee and on its selection committee. Ms. Kelly is a current member of the Valley Hospital Foundation's Estate Planning Advisory Council. As a volunteer, Ms. Kelly is a past president of the Academy of the Holy Angels Alumnae Association and is an active member of the Junior League of Bergen County.
Ms. Kelly resides in Oradell, New Jersey.
Memberships & Affiliations
American Bar Association
New Jersey Bar Association
Boston Bar Association
Speaking
05/10/12, Understanding Decedents' Accounts
Laura A. Kelly and Gerard G. Brew
New Jersey Bankers Association
01/01/97, Preliminary Matters; Drafting the Will 1997 - 2002
Laura A. Kelly
Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education
Publications
11/08/10, AS THE SUN SETS ON 2010...
M&E Tax & Benefits Alert
08/01/2007, When Is a Gift Not a Gift?
Laura A. Kelly
Garden State Woman 2007 Financial Resources Guide
01/01/1991, Understanding and Using Trusts
Laura A. Kelly
Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education