Trust Me: Trust Drafting Fundamentals

Presenters

Joshua F. Cheslow, Esq.

Drescher & Cheslow, PA, Manalapan

Timothy M. Ferges, Esq.

McCarter & English, LLP, Newark

is a Partner in McCarter & English, LLP in the firm’s Newark, New Jersey, and New York City offices, where he concentrates his practice in trust and estate law, including trust and estate litigation, estate planning, and trust and estate administration. Mr. Ferges brings and defends breach of fiduciary duty claims and handles contested accounting proceedings, Will and trust construction matters, and other fiduciary disputes; and represents beneficiaries, individual fiduciaries, and large institutional trust companies as well as charitable and non-profit organizations in those disputes. He also counsels high-net-worth individuals and families in estate planning goals while integrating asset protection and minimizing exposure to income and transfer taxes.

Admitted to practice in New Jersey and New York, and before the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, Mr. Ferges has been a member of the American Academy of Attorney—CPAs and the American Bar Association Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law, where he has served as Vice Chair of a committee in the Trust & Estates Litigation Group. He is a member of the Mid-Atlantic Fellows Institute of the American College of Trust & Estate Counsel (ACTEC) and the New Jersey State Bar Association Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Section and the New York State Bar Association’s Trusts and Estates Law Section, where he has served on the Estate Litigation Committee. In addition to being an attorney, he is also a Certified Public Accountant and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Springpoint Senior Living Foundation.

Mr. Ferges has lectured for ICLE, the National Business Institute and other organizations, and his articles have appeared in the New Jersey Law Journal and other publications. He is the recipient of several honors.

Mr. Ferges received his B.S. from Rutgers University; his M.B.A. from Rutgers Business School; his J.D. from Seton Hall University School of Law, where he served as Director of the Appellate Advocacy Moot Court Board and as a member of the Interscholastic Moot Court Board; and his LL.M. in Taxation from New York University School of Law. He was Law Clerk to the Honorable Walter Koprowski, Jr. and the Honorable Renee Jones Weeks, Probate Part, Chancery Division, Superior Court of New Jersey.
(8/23)

Mark R. Friedman, Esq.

Friedman Law, Bridgewater

practices estate planning, elder law and special needs law with Friedman Law in Bridgewater, New Jersey. His work includes creating special needs trusts for disabled clients so litigation proceedings, child support and other payments will not disrupt public benefits; helping seniors plan to prevent long-term care costs from wiping out their savings; and estate planning in first marriages, second marriages and for unmarried clients.

Admitted to practice in New Jersey and New York, Mr. Friedman is Past Chair and former Roundtable Coordinator and Legislative Coordinator of the New Jersey State Bar Association Elder and Disability Law Section. He was Somerset County representative to and Executive Committee member of the NJSBA Young Lawyers, and served on the NJSBA Blue Ribbon Commission on Unmet Legal Needs. Prior to joining the firm Mr. Friedman was a Contributing Editor for The FCPA Blog in Singapore, ROS, where he provided analysis on compliance, corruption and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). He is the author of articles including “Modern Estate Planning for Same-Sex Couples” (New Jersey Law Journal, October 14, 2013).

Mr. Friedman received his B.A. from Binghamton University, State University of New York, and his J.D. from New York University Law School, where he was selected as an inaugural Fellow with Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics, which sends law and medical students to Germany and Poland to study their profession’s role in the Nazi genocide. He also created the Darfur Victims Project at NYU, leading a team of law students in support of litigation before the International Criminal Court.
(9/23)

Michael Poreda, Esq.

Lydecker, Jersey City

Stacey M. Valentine, Esq.

Avelino Law, LLP, Florham Park

is a Partner in Avelino Law, LLP with offices in Summit, New Jersey, and New York City, and co-leads the Trusts and Estates Practice Group. With a practice encompassing all aspects of trusts and estates law, she handles income, estate, inheritance, gift, and generation-skipping transfer tax issues, and helps clients maximize the benefits of charitable giving. Ms. Valentine assists estate and trust beneficiaries and fiduciaries in enforcing their rights and adhering to their obligations in the event of a dispute, and serves as legal counsel to numerous financial institutions and corporate trustees, assisting those entities in the implementation of their fiduciary duty while addressing the risks inherent to the role of executor or trustee. She also advises clients in general corporate matters arising in closely-held family businesses and has experience working with individuals with special needs.

Ms. Valentine is admitted to practice in New Jersey and New York. She is a member of the New Jersey State, New York State and Morris County Bar Associations, and the Board of the Estate Planning Council of Northern New Jersey. She has also sat on the Board of the Women’s Association for the Morristown Medical Center and the Young Professionals Board of Eva’s Village.

Ms. Valentine received her B.A., magna cum laude, from Colgate University and her J.D., cum laude, from Washington & Lee University School of Law.