Shelly merritt

Member

connie.eyster@hbcboulder.com
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Experience

Shelly D. Merritt is of counsel at Hutchinson Black and Cook LLC in Boulder, Colorado, where she brings more than three decades of experience in estate planning, trust and estate administration, and business law.

Her practice emphasizes estate planning, trust and estate administration, probate, and small business law with a focus on complex wealth preservation estate plans, including multi-generational planning, international succession planning, and business succession planning. She also advises and assists clients with tax issues relating to business entities and formation of business entities.

Ms. Merritt graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting Degree, with honors, in 1987. She received her law degree from the University of Texas School of Law in 1991 and is also a Certified Public Accountant.

Ms. Merritt is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Council (ACTEC) and a Member of the Society of Trust and Estate Council (STEP) and has a STEP Certification in International Succession Planning. She served as Chair of the Statutory Revisions Committee of the Trusts and Estates Section of the Colorado Bar Association for 2008-2009 and was a Council Member of the Section. She served as Co-Chair of the Taxation, Estate Planning and Probate Section of the Boulder County Bar Association in 2001-2002 and member of the Board of Trustees of The Community Foundation Serving Boulder County from 2004-2010 (Chair of the Legal Committee 2008-2010).

She served on the Board of Directors for Boulder Valley Women’s Health Center from 2015-2020 and as Treasurer from 2016-2019. Ms. Merritt is the author of the chapter of the Colorado Estate Planning Handbook on Community Property, and authored Colorado Lawyer articles, Reforming Charitable Remainder Trusts in Colorado Under the New IRS Procedures and Planning for Community Property in Colorado. She has also lectured on various estate planning topics and is admitted to practice law in Colorado and Texas.

Education

  • University of Texas School of Law, Doctor of Jurisprudence, May 1991

  • University of Texas at Arlington, B.B.A. in Accounting with honors, December 1987

Bar Admissions / Clerkships

  • Colorado, 1995

  • Texas, 1991

Memberships / Awards

  • Colorado Bar Association Trusts and Estates Section (Council Member; Member and former Chair of the Statutory Revisions Committee)

  • Boulder Bar Association-Estate Planning & Probate Section (co-chair 2001- 2002)

  • Colorado Society of CPAs

  • Community Foundation Serving Boulder County Legal Committee

  • Boulder County Estate Planning Council

  • Society of Trust and Estate Council (STEP)

  • Board Member and Treasurer Boulder Valley Women’s Health

PUBLICATIONS & PRESENTATIONS
• Practical Planning for Cross Border Clients, Colorado Bar Association 43rd Estate Planning Retreat, June 8-10, 2023 and Boulder County Estate Planning Council, January 9, 2024
• Understanding and Using Specialized Trusts, Including GRATs, IDITs, and More, Colorado Bar Association CLE, May 6, 2021
• Navigating The New 199A The Mechanics, Issues, and Opportunities, Colorado Society of CPAs May 10, 2018
• Tax and Estate Planning Issues for Non-Citizen Clients and Clients Owning Foreign Properties, Colorado Society of CPAs November 5, 2015; Boulder County Estate Planning Council September 8, 2015; Colorado Bar Association August 2, 2016; Boulder County Bar Association May 24, 2017
• Understanding and Using Specialized Trusts, Including GRATs, IDITs, Pet Trust, and More, Co-Presenter, Colorado Bar Association CLE, May 6, 2015
• What Kind of Trust Does My Client (or Client’s Spouse) Have and Is It Reachable By His or Her Creditors or Divorcing Spouse?, Presenter, Family Law Section of the Boulder County Bar Association, September 17, 2014
• Current Charitable Planning Strategies and Issues, Co-Presenter, Colorado Planned Giving Roundtable Technical Series, September 26, 2013
• Planning For The New Colorado Client (Considerations for Clients Moving to Colorado From Other States, Co-Presenter, Trust and Estate Section of the Colorado Bar Association 33rd Annual Estate Planning Retreat, June 13-15, 2013
• Using Trusts to Protect Assets From A Child’s Creditors and Divorcing Spouses, Co-Presenter, Taxation, Estate Planning and Probate and Family Law Sections of the Boulder County Bar Association, April 30, 2012
• Crummey Trusts - The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, Understanding and Using Specialized Trusts, sponsored by the Colorado Bar Association Trust and Estate Section, April 28, 2010
• Gifts to Trusts and Navigating the Form 709, Colorado Society of CPAs, Boulder/Longmont October 22, 2009
• Colorado Trusts and Estate Law Update, Boulder County Bar Association, September 23, 2009.
• Colorado Trusts and Estate Law Update (September 2007-August 2009), 23rd Biennial Advanced Estate Planning Symposium, September 10-11, 2009
• Trusts and Estates Statutory Law Update (July 2008-June 2009), Colorado Bar Association Annual Legislative Update, June 10, 2009
• Crummy “Crummey” Trust Issues, Colorado Bar Association Trust and Estate Section 2008 Annual Estate Planning Retreat, June 12-14, 2008

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND BLOG POSTS

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