CO-CHAIR, TAX, BENEFITS, AND PRIVATE CLIENT PRACTICE GROUP
Sean R. Weissbart concentrates his practice in the areas of trusts and estates law and tax-exempt organizations.
His trusts and estates practice is focused on domestic and international estate planning, the administration of trusts and estates, and the representation of beneficiaries and fiduciaries in contested matters in Surrogate’s Court. He also advises clients on the preparation of pre- and post-nuptial agreements and the modification of trusts upon divorce.
Sean also counsels tax-exempt organizations on matters ranging from formation and obtaining of tax-exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) to complying with state and federal tax-exemption laws and the avoidance of excise taxes and the unrelated business income tax. He has also litigated against the IRS in United States federal courts.
Sean serves as an adjunct professor of law at both New York University School of Law, where he teaches Income Taxation of Trusts and Estates and International Estate Planning, and Fordham University School of Law, where he teaches Trusts and Estates Drafting. He is a co-author of the law school textbook The Income Taxation of Trusts and Estates. He is a regular faculty member of leading trusts and estates conferences, including the Hawaii Tax Institute, the Notre Dame Tax and Estate Planning Institute, and the annual meeting of the New York State Bar Association. Sean publishes scholarly and practice-driven articles that have been featured in leading journals such as The ACTEC Law Journal, The Journal of Taxation, and Estate Planning. During law school, Sean served on the editorial board for the Fordham Law Review.
Sean is a fellow of The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, a national organization of trusts and estates attorneys who have demonstrated the highest level of professionalism in the field. He also serves on the boards of various philanthropic organizations, including as general counsel to the Ment’or BKB Foundation, an organization that sponsors the American team at the Bocuse d’Or (a biannual culinary competition in France), and as chair of the “NextGen” Trusts and Estates Committee of the UJA Federation of New York.