Estate Planning Conference Webcast

As President of Family Wealth, Eastern U.S. Region, for Wilmington Trust, N.A., Sharon is responsible for overseeing the delivery of all Wealth Management services by teams of professionals, including planning, trust, investment management, family governance and education, family office, and private banking services. Sharon also heads Wilmington Trust’s National Matrimonial/Divorce Advisory Practice. Sharon has over 25 years of experience in the wealth advisory arena and is a nationally recognized speaker and author. Global media company Forbes features Sharon as a Top Advisor in multiple categories since 2020. Every year since 2022 she was chosen as one of the Top Women Wealth Advisors in America and in New York, and in 2025 she was named the #1 Woman Wealth Advisor in New York City for High-Net-Worth. Leading business publication Crain’s named Sharon to its 2020 inaugural list of the Most Notable Women in Financial Advice. In 2023 and 2024, Sharon was chosen as a Leading High Net Worth Wealth Manager by Chambers, an internationally renowned independent ranking company. In 2018, she was honored by the UJA-Federation of New York Lawyers Division for her contributions to the trusts & estates community and the community at large. Sharon is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, a highly selective professional organization of preeminent estate planning attorneys in the U.S. and internationally. Sharon was inducted into the Estate Planning Hall of Fame in 2021. This award is considered the pinnacle of accomplishment in this field. Only 125 people across the U.S. have received this award since its inception in 2004. Sharon is a member of The Rockefeller University Committee on Trust and Estate Gift Plans, the New York Bankers Association Trust & Investment Division Executive Committee, the Estates, Gifts and Trusts Advisory Board for The Bureau of National Affairs and the Thomson Reuters Trusts & Estates Advisory Board. She chairs the Domestic Relations Committee of Trusts & Estates magazine, where she sits on the Board, and is on the Advisory Board of Family Lawyer Magazine. Sharon is a past chair of the New York City Bar Association’s Trusts, Estates and Surrogate’s Court Committee, and a past chair of the New York State Bar Association’s Trusts and Estates Law Section Taxation Committee. She served on the Board of the American Brain Foundation and was a member of its Finance Committee. Prior to joining Wilmington Trust, Sharon was Managing Director at Lazard, the internationally renowned global investment banking and management company. As Head of Wealth Advisory of Lazard Wealth Management, she led the delivery of all wealth advisory services. Before that, she headed the Estate department at Fiduciary Trust Company International. Sharon began her career as a trusts & estates attorney at Rosenman & Colin (now Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP). Sharon, who holds U.S., British, and Australian citizenships, earned a master of laws from the University of California, Berkeley Law School, received a bachelor of arts and a bachelor of laws from the University of New South Wales, Australia and is a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst.

Kevin Matz, Esq., CPA, LLM (taxation), is a partner in the Private Clients, Trusts and Estates Department at the national law firm of ArentFox Schiff LLP, based in its New York City office, where he co-chairs its Family Office Group.  Kevin’s practice is principally devoted to domestic and international estate and tax planning, family office services, estate administration and related litigation. Kevin earned his BS in Accounting from Lehman College (CUNY), his JD from Fordham University School of Law (where he was a Notes & Articles Editor of the Fordham Law Review) and his LLM in Taxation from New York University School of Law. Kevin is currently President of the NYCPA, and is a former chair of both its Estate Planning Committee and its Trust and Estate Administration Committee, the current chair of both the FAE Curriculum Committee and of the NYCPA Professional Liability Insurance Committee, and a past President of the FAE Board of Trustees.  In addition, Kevin is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (“ACTEC”), in which connection he is a past Chair of ACTEC’s Business Planning Committee, the current Vice-Chair of its Washington Affairs Committee and a member of ACTEC’s Board of Regents. Kevin is also currently the Treasurer of the Trusts and Estates Law Section of the New York State Bar Association, and the past Chair of the UJA-Federation of New York’s Trusts and Estates Group (for which he was its Honoree at its 2023 Annual Event). Kevin may be contacted at 914-380-2140 or kevin.matz@afslaw.com.

Steven B. Gorin, Esq., CPA, CGMA, Partner, Thompson Coburn LLP is a nationally recognized practitioner in the areas of estate planning and the structuring of privately held businesses. Over the course of his 30-year career, Steve has amassed a deep knowledge of nearly every aspect of tax strategy for privately held businesses and freely shares that knowledge with others in the field. In his work for businesses, he helps owners plan for the eventual sale (to co-owners, employees, or third parties) or transfer (to family members), and provides a legal framework for an orderly transition while strategically saving income, transfer, and FICA taxes. His quarterly newsletter, "Business Succession Solutions," is considered essential reading for hundreds of CPAs and attorneys, who describe it as "a fantastic contribution to the field." He also maintains a blog, Business Succession Solutions, intended to help business owners — and those who advise or support them — consider smart tax strategies.

Jonathan Blattmachr, JD, Principal, Estate Planning Advisory Group, Pioneer Wealth Partners, is a Principal in Pioneer’s estate planning advisory group. He brings over 35 years of experience in trusts and estates law. He is a retired member of Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy and the Alaska, California and New York bars. He writes and lectures extensively on estate and trust taxation and charitable giving, and has authored or co-authored six books and over 500 articles on estate planning topics. He has served as a lecturer in law of the Columbia University School of Law and as an Adjunct Professor of Law at New York University Law School in its Masters in Tax Program (LL.M.). He is a former chairperson of the Trusts & Estates Law Section of the New York State Bar Association and of several committees of the American Bar Association. He is a Fellow and a former Regent of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and past chair of its Estate and Gift Tax Committee.

Robert S. Barnett, CPA, Esq., is a founding partner of Capell Barnett Matalon & Schoenfeld LLP, Attorneys at Law. His practice is highly concentrated in the areas of taxation, trusts, estates, corporate and partnership law and charitable planning. His experience includes Surrogate’s Court practice, tax dispute resolution, and Tax Court representation. Mr. Barnett frequently assists clients in structuring financial transactions and charitable gifts. Mr. Barnett applies creative and practical solutions to estate and business planning. He has served on many committees and is a frequent lecturer on numerous aspects of tax and business law. He is an active participant and serves on many professional and charitable boards. Mr. Barnett is a frequent lecturer and writer. His articles and lectures encompass a wide variety of topics, including business succession, estate planning, charitable planning, generation-skipping, stock options, effective strategies for removing tax liens, business taxation, utilization of the marital deduction and partnership elections. Mr. Barnett received his juris doctor in 1986 from Fordham University, where he graduated cum laude and was a member of the Fordham Law Review. He graduated magna cum laude from Hofstra University, where he received his Bachelor’s degree in accounting. Mr. Barnett holds a Master’s degree in taxation as the recipient of the highest dean’s award. Mr. Barnett is admitted to practice law in New York, Virginia and Washington, D.C. Member: • Board of Directors of the Long Island Community Foundation.
• Board of Directors of Nassau Academy of Law
• Professional Advisors Committee of the Long Island Community Foundation
• Professional Advisors Committee of the American Heart Association
• Past Education Committee Chairman NCCPAP
• Past President of the NCCPAP Educational Foundation
• Past President of Nassau Chapter NYSSCPA
• Member of Nassau Academy of Law Advisory Board
• CPA Journal Editorial Review Board, May 2017-2020 Awards:
• 2013 Max Block Distinguished Article Award for Technical Analysis
• November 2016 – Samuel A. Dyckman, Excellence in Education Award
• November 2016 – Leadership in Law Award – Long Island Business News
• May 2017 – Distinguished Service Award – NYSSCPAS – Nassau Chapter
• Dean’s Award in Taxation – Long Island University CW Post
• Fordham Law Review
• Fordham University American Jurisprudence Award – Trusts and Estates

Elizabeth Forspan is a Partner with Forspan Klear LLP, a New York law firm. Elizabeth’s areas of practice include Elder Law, Trusts & Estates and Taxation. Elizabeth speaks throughout the United States on various aspects of Elder Care Planning, Tax Law and Estate Planning. She was the recipient of the prestigious Max Block Award for Outstanding Article in the Category of Technical Analysis, awarded by the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants’ CPA Journal for her article “Casualty Losses for Property Damaged by Hurricane Sandy”. Elizabeth has been named a Super Lawyers Rising Star in the areas of Estate Planning and Probate and Elder Law for every year from 2016 through 2023. Elizabeth has been featured in New York Magazine, MarketWatch, and she has been quoted in the New York Times. Elizabeth’s articles and contributions have been featured in the New York Law Journal. Prior to co-founding Forspan Klear LLP, Elizabeth was a Tax Manager with Ernst & Young LLP, where she focused on Mergers and Acquisitions and Executive Compensation. Elizabeth earned her Juris Doctor from Fordham University School of Law and her B.A. from Queens College of the City University of New York, where she graduated summa cum laude and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

Wealth planning and preservation are central to Todd’s practice. He specializes in safeguarding and transitioning clients’ assets for future generations in a tax efficient manner by implementing vehicles such as Sales to Grantor Trusts, Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts (GRATs), Carried Interest Transfer techniques, Family Limited Partnerships, and Preferred “Freeze” Partnerships. With experience in investment structures, Todd assists national and international families and family offices in navigating complex transfer tax issues. With a particular focus on navigating complex estate and gift tax pitfalls under Chapter 14 of the Internal Revenue Code, he creates wealth transfer structures that are designed to preserve assets for families for multiple generations to come. Todd is committed to educating future generations about wealth preservation and its empowering effects on families. By creating efficient structures and providing insights into non-tax aspects of engagement by family members at different generations, he enables his clients to preserve family wealth while supporting their endeavors at multiple generations.

First and foremost, Stephen considers himself a teacher. Tax and estate planning are complicated, but Stephen enjoys making these topics as simple as possible so his clients can be confident they are making the best decisions for themselves, their families, and the charities they care about. Stephen starts every relationship by helping families articulate their goals. What issues need to be addressed? Are there opportunities to take advantage of? Using his unique background that includes seven years working at leading financial services firms, Stephen helps clients find a balance between tax optimization, complexity, risk, and competing non-tax goals. He then engages a family’s team of advisors to fully integrate their personal, legal, and financial planning. Stephen’s practice focuses on the needs of wealthy individuals and families, their businesses, and charities. His extensive experience includes domestic and international trust and estate planning, tax minimization, advanced life insurance strategies, and planned charitable giving. He has helped clients with pre-sale and pre-IPO planning, planning with concentrated stock positions, planning with fund interests, trust decanting and trust modifications, minimizing state income taxation of trusts, dynasty trusts, generation skipping transfer (GST) tax, split-dollar life insurance, planning with art, private foundations, charitable lead trusts, and charitable remainder trusts. He has advised families on the formation and operation of foreign trusts, pre-migration planning, foreign investment in U.S. real property, voluntary disclosures, and expatriation. Stephen has authored or co-authored more than 30 articles. A frequent lecturer, he has spoken at numerous industry conferences in the United States and globally. Stephen currently chairs the Estate and Gift Tax Committee of the Real Property, Trust & Estate Section of the American Bar Association.