Jennifer E. Smith
Member
Jennifer E. Smith
Member
Practice Focus
Trusts, Estates, and Tax
Fiduciary Litigation
Contact
Direct: (302) 468-5968
Fax: (302) 691-6834
Email: jsmith@mdsulaw.com
Administrative Support
Sonja L. Carducci
Direct: (302) 468-5970
Email: scarducci@mdsulaw.com
Jenny is a founding partner of MDSU and practices in the areas of estate planning, estate and trust administration, and wealth preservation. She advises clients on all aspects of estates planning, including wills, durable powers of attorney, healthcare directives and probate. In addition, Jenny advises beneficiaries and trustees regarding trust migration, termination, and various methods of trust modification including mergers, decantings, and nonjudicial settlements.
Jenny is a published author and frequent speaker on issues and developments related to trusts and estates. She has presented nationally on various topics, including directed trusts, nonjudicial methods of trust modification, and recent developments to state and federal trust law.
Jenny has been recognized by Chambers – High Net Worth since 2018, she is certified as an Accredited Estate Planner® by the National Association of Estate Planners and Councils, and is the recipient of a Powerwomen Award for business growth.
Delaware
Emory University, B.A. Phi Beta Kappa
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law, J.D.
Villanova University School of Law, LL.M. (Taxation)
Mid-Atlantic Fellows Institute of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel
Estate Planning Council of Delaware, Board of Directors
Delaware State Bar Association
Estates and Trusts Section, Trust Act Committee
Tax Section, former chair
Bloomburg Tax: Tax Management Estates, Gifts, and Trusts Journal
- Strategies for Mitigating the ‘Burn’ of Grantor Trust Status (2023) feature article
Trusts & Estates Magazine
- Delaware Law Authorizes Electronic Execution of Trust Documents (2022) feature article
- Grantor Trust Reimbursement Statutes: A Magic Wand to Allay the Woes of Grumpy Trustors (2021) feature article
- The World is Our Oyster: Opportunities Await Future Trust and Estate Professionals (2020) feature article
Delaware Journal of Public Health
- Estate Planning in the Event of Incapacity as a Result of Dementia (2021) feature article
American Bar Association Tax Times
- The Quill is Mightier than the Sword: The Supreme Court’s Decision in Kaestner Defends Quill’s Due Process Analysis (2019) guest article
The Legal Intelligencer
- Understanding Eligible Designated Beneficiaries under the SECURE Act (2020) guest article
American Bankers Association Trust Newsletter
- Unequal Dispositions of Property Among Children and the Specter of Litigation: Pre-Mortem Trust Validation Statutes Provide a Solution (2016)
Delaware Banker Magazine
- Frank Aragona Trust Sheds Light on “Material Participation” Requirements ( 2014)
AICPA Engage Conference
- High-Level Teaming Look in Tax and Financial Advisory Services—a Best Practices Approach (2023)
- Reading and Understanding a Trust Document (2023)
Notre Dame Tax and Estate Planning Institute
-
To Reimburse or Not to Reimburse? Grantor Trust Reimbursement Statutes Offer Solutions to the Trustor’s Income Tax Woes, But Beware of the “Burn” (2022)
Hawaii Tax Institute
- Designing Irrevocable Trusts to Protect Assets from Being Reached in Divorce (2022)
ABA Real Property Trust and Estate National CLE Conference
- Don’t be Nonplussed, a Nongrantor Trust Must be Discussed! (2022)
- Grantor Trust Reimbursement Statutes (2021)
- The Value of Mentors in a World Gone Crazy (2021)
National Association of State Bar Tax Sections
- The Supreme Court’s Decision in Kaestner: A View from the Trenches (2019)
Connecticut Bar Association
- A Comparison of Grantor Trust Reimbursement Statutes (2022)
Maryland State Bar Association
- Advanced Techniques in Estate Planning (2020)
Pennsylvania Bar Association
- Trust Modification (2020)
Stafford Live National Webinar
- Structuring Non-Grantor Trusts for Wealth Transfers and Income Tax Planning (2022)
Delaware Trust Conference
- Divorce: Implications and Considerations Impacting Trust Administration (2021)
- Directed Trusts: Best Practices for Working with Advisors, Trust Protectors and Excluded Trustees-When to Say No! (2018)
- This vs That: What Can be Done in Other Jurisdictions (2016)
Delaware Tax Institute
- Recent Developments in Estate Planning – Proposed Legislation (2021)
- Recent Developments in Estate Planning – Transfer Tax Cases (2020)
- Recent Developments in Estate Planning – Private Letter Rulings (2017)
- Estate of Woebling and the Future of Intentionally Defective Grantor Trusts (2016)
- Dancing with the IRS: Do the Bump—do the Basis Bump (2015)
Jenny is a founding partner of MDSU and practices in the areas of estate planning, estate and trust administration, and wealth preservation. She advises clients on all aspects of estates planning, including wills, durable powers of attorney, healthcare directives and probate. In addition, Jenny advises beneficiaries and trustees regarding trust migration, termination, and various methods of trust modification including mergers, decantings, and nonjudicial settlements.
Jenny is a published author and frequent speaker on issues and developments related to trusts and estates. She has presented nationally on various topics, including directed trusts, nonjudicial methods of trust modification, and recent developments to state and federal trust law.
Jenny has been recognized by Chambers – High Net Worth since 2018, she is certified as an Accredited Estate Planner® by the National Association of Estate Planners and Councils, and is the recipient of a Powerwomen Award for business growth.
Presentations
AICPA Engage Conference
- High-Level Teaming Look in Tax and Financial Advisory Services—a Best Practices Approach (2023)
- Reading and Understanding a Trust Document (2023)
Notre Dame Tax and Estate Planning Institute
-
To Reimburse or Not to Reimburse? Grantor Trust Reimbursement Statutes Offer Solutions to the Trustor’s Income Tax Woes, But Beware of the “Burn” (2022)
Hawaii Tax Institute
- Designing Irrevocable Trusts to Protect Assets from Being Reached in Divorce (2022)
ABA Real Property Trust and Estate National CLE Conference
- Don’t be Nonplussed, a Nongrantor Trust Must be Discussed! (2022)
- Grantor Trust Reimbursement Statutes (2021)
- The Value of Mentors in a World Gone Crazy (2021)
National Association of State Bar Tax Sections
- The Supreme Court’s Decision in Kaestner: A View from the Trenches (2019)
Connecticut Bar Association
- A Comparison of Grantor Trust Reimbursement Statutes (2022)
Maryland State Bar Association
- Advanced Techniques in Estate Planning (2020)
Pennsylvania Bar Association
- Trust Modification (2020)
Stafford Live National Webinar
- Structuring Non-Grantor Trusts for Wealth Transfers and Income Tax Planning (2022)
Delaware Trust Conference
- Divorce: Implications and Considerations Impacting Trust Administration (2021)
- Directed Trusts: Best Practices for Working with Advisors, Trust Protectors and Excluded Trustees-When to Say No! (2018)
- This vs That: What Can be Done in Other Jurisdictions (2016)
Delaware Tax Institute
- Recent Developments in Estate Planning – Proposed Legislation (2021)
- Recent Developments in Estate Planning – Transfer Tax Cases (2020)
- Recent Developments in Estate Planning – Private Letter Rulings (2017)
- Estate of Woebling and the Future of Intentionally Defective Grantor Trusts (2016)
- Dancing with the IRS: Do the Bump—do the Basis Bump (2015)
Publications
Bloomburg Tax: Tax Management Estates, Gifts, and Trusts Journal
- Strategies for Mitigating the ‘Burn’ of Grantor Trust Status (2023) feature article
Trusts & Estates Magazine
- Delaware Law Authorizes Electronic Execution of Trust Documents (2022) feature article
- Grantor Trust Reimbursement Statutes: A Magic Wand to Allay the Woes of Grumpy Trustors (2021) feature article
- The World is Our Oyster: Opportunities Await Future Trust and Estate Professionals (2020) feature article
Delaware Journal of Public Health
- Estate Planning in the Event of Incapacity as a Result of Dementia (2021) feature article
American Bar Association Tax Times
- The Quill is Mightier than the Sword: The Supreme Court’s Decision in Kaestner Defends Quill’s Due Process Analysis (2019) guest article
The Legal Intelligencer
- Understanding Eligible Designated Beneficiaries under the SECURE Act (2020) guest article
American Bankers Association Trust Newsletter
- Unequal Dispositions of Property Among Children and the Specter of Litigation: Pre-Mortem Trust Validation Statutes Provide a Solution (2016)
Delaware Banker Magazine
- Frank Aragona Trust Sheds Light on “Material Participation” Requirements ( 2014)
Professional Associations
- Mid-Atlantic Fellows Institute of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel
- Estate Planning Council of Delaware, Board of Directors
- Delaware State Bar Association
- Estates and Trusts Section, Trust Act Committee
- Tax Section, former chair
Education
- Emory University, B.A. Phi Beta Kappa
- The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law, J.D.
- Villanova University School of Law, LL.M. (Taxation)
Admissions
- Delaware
- Pennsylvania