Catherine Grevers Schmidt is a partner in the New York office, where she focuses her practice on complex estate and tax planning for high-net-worth individuals and families, entrepreneurs and real estate owners, and on planning for the generation-skipping transfer tax. Through use of sophisticated techniques such as qualified personal residence trusts, grantor retained annuity trusts, dynasty trusts, intentionally defective grantor trusts and limited liability companies, among others, as well as traditional wills and revocable trusts, she assists clients in minimizing the impact of estate and gift taxes on their estate plans, and in transferring family wealth to their children and grandchildren. She also has considerable experience in the administration of large estates and trusts, advising clients on private foundation matters and in representing clients in contested estate and gift tax audits. In addition to numerous audits settled at the initial and appeals levels, she has also represented clients before the U.S. Tax Court, achieving favorable settlement results and trial victories.

Catherine writes about estate and gift tax topics and is a frequent speaker for programs sponsored by, among others, the Estate Planning Council of New York, the New York State Bar Association, New York University School of Continuing Legal Education and the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants. She is often cited in publications including Forbes, Kiplinger’s, New York Daily News and The Wall Street Journal, with respect to legal issues in trusts and estates and is also a regular contributor to the New York Daily News “Money Pros” column. Catherine has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America in the area of Trusts and Estates. She is also listed in New York Super Lawyers in the area of Estate Planning and Probate and is named to the publication’s Top Women Attorneys in the New York Metro Area list. She has received Martindale-Hubbell’s highest peer-reviewed “AV Preeminent” rating for excellence in the law and ethical conduct and is included on several local and national lists of preeminent women attorneys by such publications as LexisNexis, Avenue Magazine and Martindale-Hubbell. She is a former member of the Trusts, Estates and Surrogate’s Court Committee of New York City Bar Association, and also served as chair of the Subcommittee on Portability. Catherine is also a former member of the Committee on Estate Planning of the New York State Bar Association.