Current Employment Position(s)

Shareholder

Lawyer Overview

Walt is a shareholder at Miller & Steiert, P.C. where, since 1996, his practice has been limited to estate planning, trust and estate and administration, preparation of federal and state estate tax returns, probate matters and selected estate litigation. He is a fellow of American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) and member of the American, Colorado and Arapahoe County Bar Associations and is a section member of the Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Section of the ABA; and is Vice Chair of the Trust and Estate Section of the Colorado Bar Association. He is the recent past chairman of the Statutory Revisions Committee of the Trust and Estate Section and recently served as chairman of the Risbry Subcommittee, which addressed the role of a personal representative in estate litigation. He is currently a member of the Uniform Estate Tax Apportionment Act Subcommittee, which is considering whether to recommend adoption of the Act in Colorado.

He is currently the Secretary-Treasurer of the Colorado Trust and Estate Council. He authored an article for the Colorado Lawyer entitled, A Personal Representative's Right to Participate in a Will Contest which was published in April 2004. He is the recent revisor/author of Chapter 8, entitled Inter Vivos Trusts of the 2004 - 2009 editions of the Colorado Estate Planning Handbook.

Walt has served on the Colorado Multiple Sclerosis Planned Giving Advisory Board; he has spoken to numerous groups regarding the topic of estate planning and related issues and has been a presenter at CLE programs in Colorado. He has also presented to the Colorado Springs Probate Bar and the Denver Trust Officers Association. He received his B.A. from the University of Vermont in 1970 and his J.D. from the University of Denver in 1973. He has an AV rating.

Walt Kelly has limited his practice to the areas of estate planning and probate matters, His estate planning practice involves both simple and tax- planned estates, using either will-based or trust-based planning tools. His practice includes drafting medical and business powers of attorney, living wills, last wishes documents. He reviews asset ownership and beneficiary designations to coordinate the different elements of an individuals overall estate plan, including an individual's retirement accounts.

His estate administration practice includes handling informal and formal probates, conservatorships, and guardianships. It includes trust administration, the preparation of federal estate tax returns, and selected contested probate litigation matters.

PHILOSOPHY
Walt believes the essence of good planning is understanding and meeting the client's needs and objectives in an efficient manner.

Areas of Practice

• Estate Planning
• Probate

West Practice Categories

Business & Commercial Law, Estate Planning, Living Wills, Powers of Attorney and Appointment, Trusts, Wills, Probate & Estate Administration, Estate Administration, Taxation Law, Estate & Gift Taxation

Bar Admissions

• Colorado, 1973
• U.S. District Court District of Colorado, 1975

Professional Associations and Memberships

• Colorado Bar Association, Trust & Estate Section Executive Council, (Vice Chair)
• Colorado Bar Association, Trust & Estate Section Executive Council, 2008 - 2009 (Secretary Treasury)
• American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, 2007 - Present (Fellow)
• American Bar Association, Real Property, Trust and Estate Section (Member)
• Arapahoe County Bar Association (Member)
• Colorado Bar Association (Member)
• Statutory Revisions Committee of Trust & Estate Section, CBA (Member, 10 Years, Chairman, 2006 - 2007, Co-chairman 2005 - 2006)
• Risbry Subcommittee of Statutory Revisions Committee, reviewing the role of personal representation in Estate litigation, 2002 - 2003 (Chairman)
• Estate Tax Apportionment Subcommittee of Statutory Revisions Committee, 2004 - Present (Member)
• Colorado Trust & Estate Council, 2003 - 2005 (Member)
• Colorado Trust & Estate Council, 2008 - 2009 (Secretary-Treasurer)

Honors and Awards

• 2009 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America, in the Specialty of Trusts and Estates
• 2010 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America, in the Specialty of Trusts and Estates

Classes and Seminars

• Joint Trusts (panelist), CLE, Denver, Colorado, 1998
• Challenges to Appt. of the Personal Representative & The Doctrine of Fiduciary Neutrality, CLE, Denver, Colorado, 2003
• A PR's Right to Participate in a Will Contest, Colorado Probate Bar, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 2004
• Corporate Fiduciary's Liability to 3rd Parties, Denver rust Officers, Denver, Colorado, 2005
• Protecting the Trustee, Colorado CLE (Annual Estate Planning Retreat), Vail, Colorado, 2006

Pro Bono Activities

• Member, Planned Giving Advisory Board, Colorado Chapter of National Multiple Sclerosis Society

Past Employment Positions

• US West, Inc. & US West Communications, Senior Counsel, 1988 - 1995
• Cogswell and Wehrle, Associate & Partner, 1980 - 1988
• Arapahoe District Attorney's Office, Deputy/Sr. Deputy DA, 1974 - 1979

Education

• University of Denver College of Law, Denver, Colorado, 1973
  J.D.
• University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, 1970
  B.A.
  Major: Political Science

Published Works

• A Personal Representative's Right to Participate in a Will Contest, The Colorado Lawyer, Vol. 33, No. 4 at p. 57, April, 2004
• Inter Vivos Trusts, Co. Estate Planning Handbook (Co. Orange Handbook) David K. Johns et.al. ed., CLE Co., Inc., Supp 2004, reviser, 2004

Address

1901 West Littleton Boulevard
Suite 100
Littleton, CO 80120-2087

Phones

(866) 913-9713
(303) 731-6316

Faxes

(303) 798-2526

Emails

Contact Us

Websites

http://www.m-s-lawyers.com