Kristen Bennett is passionate about the law and enjoys helping her clients navigate potentially confusing areas of estate planning, as well as estate and trust administration, with care, understanding and compassion. She keeps abreast of the ever-changing laws that affect her clients so that she can give them the most up-to-date information possible. Practicing in the firm’s Greater Wilmington, Delaware office, Kristen also provides counsel on taxation and tax planning for individuals and businesses.

Kristen’s work encompasses all aspects of wills and trusts, including the probate of wills, the marshaling and inventory of assets, and the administration of living and testamentary trusts. In addition, Kristen provides counsel on estate and trust administration, including probate, estate tax returns, income tax returns, post-mortem tax planning, and other administration issues. From time to time, she represents clients in guardianship proceedings and petitions related to probate or trust administration in the Delaware Court of Chancery. She also advises clients on special needs planning and supplemental/special needs trusts.

Kristen is a frequent speaker on such topics as estate planning, estate tax and special needs planning. Speaking engagements include:

• Bridge the Gap, the Annual Supreme Court of Delaware Pre-Admission Conference, Meeting the Expectations of the Client – Wills and Estates (2009-2017)
• Delaware Trust Conference – Estate Planning Drafting Workshop (2012), The Matching Game: a discussion about emerging Uniform Laws compared to Delaware law (2017)
• Delaware State Bar Association – Basics of Special Needs Trusts (2011), Fundamentals of Estate Planning (2014), Understanding Delaware’s Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets (2015), Fundamentals of Will Drafting and Estate Administration (2017)
• National Business Institute – Legal Ethics in Estate Planning (2016), Frequently Used Trusts for Estate and Financial Planning (2017)

Kristen is a member of the Delaware Bar Association’s Estates and Trusts Section and Tax Section, as well as the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Sections of the Pennsylvania Bar Association. She is a member of the Sussex County Bar Association and the American Bar Association, and is on the Estate Planning Council of Delaware, Inc. Kristen also serves as a board member for Delaware CarePlan, Inc., a nonprofit nongovernmental organization, which serves as trustee of special and supplemental trusts created for the benefit of Delaware residents. She is a board member and chair of the grant making committee for the Alliance for Health Equity, Inc., a nonprofit focused on health equity in Coatesville, PA.

COURT ADMISSIONS

• Delaware, 2004
• Pennsylvania, 2010

EDUCATION

• Furman University, Greenville, South Carolina, B.A., 2001
• University of Richmond T.C. Williams School of Law, Richmond, Virginia, J.D., 2004
• Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, DC, LL.M in Taxation, 2007

MEMBERSHIPS & SERVICE

• Delaware Bar Association’s Estates and Trusts Section
• Delaware Bar Association’s Tax Section
• Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section
• Sussex County Bar Association
• American Bar Association
• Estate Planning Council of Delaware, Inc.
• Delaware CarePlan, Inc., board member
• Alliance for Health Equity, board member and chair of the Grantmaking Committee

ADDITIONAL DISTINCTIONS

• The Best Lawyers in America^®, 2020-present
• Super Lawyers, Delaware Rising Star in Tax, 2013 – 2016
• Top Lawyers, Main Line Today, 2021-2022
• Top Lawyers, Daily Local News, 2021-present, Readers Choice Awards