JOAN S. SILVERMAN

Joan S. Silverman is of counsel to Harrington, Ocko & Monk, LLP. Joan has over 30 years of experience in estate planning and estate and trust administration. She handles all facets of estate planning, including the preparation of Wills, revocable living trusts, life insurance trusts, charitable trusts, GRATs and QPRTs, generation-skipping and dynasty trusts, and trusts for children, grandchildren and other descendants and for people with special needs. Joan counsels clients on family wealth transfer planning, including tax-driven estate planning, gifting and business succession planning, and also assists clients with charitable planning. She has represented families with significant wealth and helped them structure their estate plans to minimize gift, estate and generation-skipping taxes as they pass their wealth through several generations. Joan helps clients appoint guardians for minor children and creates estate plans to ensure that clients’ property is managed properly for their descendants and taxes are minimized. Joan is also experienced in planning to minimize income and estate tax consequences of qualified plan assets such as IRAs and other tax-deferred accounts and retirement plans.

In addition, Joan handles the post-death administration and distribution of clients’ estates and trusts, ranging from those with multi-million dollar valuations to those of modest size. She handles all aspects of estate and trust administration, including the probate of Wills, the preparation of estate tax returns, advice regarding income taxes on estates and trusts, accountings for estates and trusts, and counseling executors and trustees regarding the administration of estates and trusts and various tax elections.

Joan graduated from Smith College with a bachelor’s degree in English, and received her law degree from Columbia Law School, where she was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar. After graduating from Columbia, she was an associate for a number of years at Hughes Hubbard & Reed, a large multinational law firm based in New York City, and continued at several other large and mid-sized New York City law firms. In 2005, she established her own practice in White Plains and New York City, and has recently become of counsel to Harrington, Ocko & Monk, LLP.

Joan is a member of the Estate Planning Council of Westchester County and the New York State Bar Association and is AV rated. She was formerly a member of the Estates, Trusts and Surrogate’s Court Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.

Joan is an avid golfer and enjoys competing against and with her husband, Ron. They just won the husband-wife tournament at their golf club. She has two daughters and sons-in-law in New York City and her first grandchild just arrived on the scene, too. Joan enjoys spending time with her family and friends, and especially likes entertaining at home because her husband is an excellent cook who loves to share his talents.