Catherine Grevers Schmidt
Partner

212-336-2116 | 212-336-2458 fax |
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Catherine Grevers Schmidt is a partner in the Personal Planning practice group.  She has been associated with the firm since 1993.  Ms. Schmidt concentrates her practice in estate planning, administration of trusts and estates, Surrogate's Court practice, and planning for charitable giving and for the inter-generational transfer of wealth.  She represents high net worth individuals and families in tax and estate planning, as well as individuals, banks and trust companies in their capacity as executors and trustees.

Her practice also encompasses contested estate and gift tax proceedings, and she has significant experience representing clients at all stages of the audit process, as well as before the United States Tax Court.  In addition to numerous audits settled at the initial audit level, Ms. Schmidt’s experience includes a major victory in a trial representing several members of a wealthy family in connection with audits of their federal gift tax returns.  In a strongly worded opinion, the Tax Court held for the taxpayers and explicitly rejected each argument put forward by the IRS.  Other significant cases include a settlement of an estate tax audit, at the IRS Appeals level, for a fraction of the deficiency amount asserted by the IRS, and successful settlement of a gift tax valuation case shortly before trial was scheduled, after completion of discovery and all major motions in preparation for trial.

Ms. Schmidt is a regular speaker on estate and gift tax topics 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 frequently cited in publications including Forbes, Kiplinger’s, New York Daily News and The Wall Street Journal, with respect to issues in the trusts and estates legal industry.  She is a member of the Committee on Estate Planning for the New York State Bar Association and has received Martindale-Hubbell’s highest "AV" rating.

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