CHARLES E. (“Terry”) COATES III

Terry is the head of the firm’s Trusts and Estates Department, and has practiced law with Whitman Breed and its predecessor firms since 1974. His practice is focused primarily on estate planning, including tax planning; preparation of wills, living trusts, powers of attorney, living wills and related documents; administration of estates and trusts; problems of incapacity; qualifying for such benefits as Title XIX; and contested probate proceedings. He appears frequently in the probate courts of Connecticut and the surrogates’ courts of New York on both contested and uncontested matters, and handles probate appeals and other proceedings in the Connecticut Superior and Appellate Courts.

Terry is a Fellow of The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, a national organization of approximately 2,600 lawyers elected to membership by demonstrating the highest level of integrity, commitment to the profession, competence and experience as trust and estate counselors. He has been selected as a Connecticut Super Lawyer and a New England Super Lawyer in the field of Estate Planning and Probate every year since those lists began to be compiled.

Connecticut Bar Association (Executive Committee, Estates and Probate Section, 1983-4 and 2003-2008; House of Delegates, 1985-88; Board of Governors, 1987-88)

Greenwich Bar Association (President, 1986-87)

Former Committeeman, Trustee, Director and/or Officer of Community Centers, Inc., United Way of Greenwich, Inc., Utilize Senior Energy, Inc., New Canaan Community Nursery School, Inc., First Presbyterian Church of New Canaan, New Canaan Environmental Commission, and King Low Heywood Thomas School.

Speaker, “Representing Estate and Trust Beneficiaries and Fiduciaries,” American Law Institute-American Bar Association, Chicago, Illinois, July 2009.

Panelist, “Use of Disclaimers in Estate Planning and Administration,” Connecticut Bar Association.

Panelist, “Hot Topics and Recent Developments in Fiduciary Litigation,” Connecticut Bar Association.

Lecturer, “Basic Estate Planning” and “Fiduciary Income Taxation,” University of Connecticut Law School and Connecticut Bar Association Joint Continuing Legal Education Program.

“Appellate Court Decision Appears to Change the Standards for Timeliness of Probate Appeals,” Estates and Probate Notes and Commentary, March 2006 (Co-Author).

“Exculpation and Proaction,” Estate Planning Magazine, February, 2010 (Co-Author).

• Fellow, American College of Trust and Estate Counsel
• New England Super Lawyer®, since 2008 (Estate Planning & Probate). See selection information at http://www.superlawyers.com/connecticut/selection_details.html
• Connecticut Super Lawyer®, since 2006(Estate Planning & Probate). See selection information at http://www.superlawyers.com/connecticut/selection_details.html
• AV Preeminent Rating, Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Ratings™