Overview
Susan Collings focuses her practice on estate planning, trust and estate administration and charitable planning. With more than 30 years of experience, Susan combines comprehensive knowledge of the big-picture issues with close attention to detail to assist clients in designing flexible and tax-advantaged estate plans, to preserve assets, and to achieve their nontax goals. She brings that same broad experience and focused counsel to trust matters, working with individual and corporate fiduciaries on a wide range of tax and administrative matters.
Estate Planning
Susan works with clients to structure wills, trusts and other estate planning documents advancing their personal and financial goals. Susan has substantial experience in sophisticated federal estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer tax planning, and has worked with clients to implement complex estate plans using:
- Grantor-retained annuity trusts (GRATs)
- Irrevocable insurance trusts (ILITs)
- Split-interest charitable trusts
- Qualified personal residence trusts
Susan has extensive knowledge of the rules governing income and estate taxation of retirement benefits and works closely with clients to maximize their retirement benefits through properly crafted beneficiary designations.
Estate and Trust Administration
Susan advises individual and corporate fiduciaries with respect to probate matters, as well as the ongoing administration of trusts and estates. She has extensive experience counseling fiduciaries on the interpretation of wills and trusts, as well as post-mortem tax planning and income tax planning opportunities available to estates and trusts.
Services & Industries
Credentials
Bar Admissions
New Jersey
Pennsylvania
Education
Temple University Beasley School of Law
J.D. Temple University Law Review - Project Editor (1986)
University of Pennsylvania
B.S. (1978)
Insights & Events
Insights
Leadership & Community
Professional Associations
- American Bar Association (ABA)
- Philadelphia Bar Association (PBA) — Probate and Trust Law Section (Past Chair); Legislative Committee; Publication Committee (Past Chair); Education Committee (Past Member)