Lucy W. West
Director
Tel: 617-951-1135Education
Boston College Law School
- J.D.
- Articles Editor and Case Note Author, Boston College Law Review
University of Michigan
- B.A., magna cum laude
- University Tour Guide
Bar and Court Admissions
- Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Practice Focus
Ms. West concentrates her law practice in the areas of estate and gift tax planning, estate and trust administration, and charitable gift planning.
She represents a broad spectrum of clients, including entrepreneurs, professionals, executives, philanthropists, professors, couples (married and unmarried), divorcees, parents and grandparents of disabled children, retirees, landowners, persons with large retirement plans, and non-citizens.
In the charitable planning area, she represents not only donors, but also charitable organizations and financial institutions serving as trustees of charitable trusts.
Notable Experience
Estate and Gift Tax Planning
Lucy assists her clients in minimizing or avoiding gift, estate and generation-skipping transfer taxes, so they can transfer more to their loved ones and less to the IRS. She has substantial experience in a wide variety of techniques to reduce taxes, including the use of revocable trusts, insurance trusts, charitable trusts, generation-skipping trusts, qualified domestic trusts, qualified personal residence trusts, grantor trusts, grantor retained annuity trusts, family limited partnerships, and conservation easements.
In addition to enabling her clients to reduce taxes, Lucy is adept at helping them to achieve their non-tax goals, whether it be to assure a quick and smooth transfer of wealth to a younger generation, to provide ongoing care for a spouse or partner, child, or incapacitated family member, or to ensure future support for a favorite charity, a family vacation home, or a special pet.
In the area of family planning, Lucy is experienced in preparing pre-nuptial agreements before her clients are married and in revising their estate plans after divorce, to meet divorce requirements and achieve their new goals.
Charitable Gift Planning
Lucy advises her clients about the variety of ways in which they can achieve their philanthropic goals and about which options would be best suited for them, in view of their particular circumstances.
Lucy has assisted many clients in creating and operating family charitable foundations. In addition, she advises both public charities and private foundations about operating in compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
On behalf of financial institutions who serve as trustees of charitable trusts, Lucy has reviewed hundreds of charitable trusts to determine if the trusts contain required tax provisions and appropriate trust administration provisions.
Administration of Estates and Trusts
Lucy is well versed in both probate and estate tax return procedures for estates. She has successfully represented numerous executors in IRS audits. In addition, she is familiar with and has implemented post-mortem techniques to correct estate planning errors that would otherwise have resulted in substantial estate tax.
Lucy has many years of experience in advising executors and trustees on all aspects of estate and trust administration. She also represents trust beneficiaries who are concerned about whether their trusts are being properly administered by the trustees.
Background
Lucy joined the firm in 1991.
Following law school graduation, Lucy served for two years as a Staff Attorney for the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston, Massachusetts.
Selected Presentations
Practical Advice About Private Foundations, sponsored by the Trusts & Estates Section of Boston Bar Association
Recent Developments in Charitable Planning, sponsored by the Trusts & Estates Section of Boston Bar Association
Organizing, Operating and Terminating Private Foundations, sponsored by The Rhode Island Foundation
Charitable Trusts: Options For Placating Unhappy Beneficiaries, sponsored by Charitable Asset Management Group, State Street Global Advisors
Charitable Gift Disclosure Requirements, sponsored by Charitable Asset Management Group, State Street Global Advisors
Trusts & Estates: The Year in Review, sponsored by Trusts & Estates Section of Boston Bar Association
Home Sweet Home: Estate Planning for the Client’s Residence, sponsored by the Boston Estate Planning Council
Estate Tax Basics, sponsored by Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education
An Overview of Trusts, sponsored by MK Services (an accounting firm)
Estate Planning Basics, sponsored by Northeastern University for its employees nearing retirement
Professional Activities
- Fellow, The American College of Trust & Estate Counsel (a national organization to which members are elected based upon their accomplishments in the trusts and estates field)
- former Vice Chair and Board Member, The Client Security Board of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (reimburses victims of attorney theft)
- Secretary (and Past Program Chair and Moderator) of Boston Probate and Estate Planning Forum
- Member, Distribution Committee of The Perpetual Trust for Charitable Giving
- Member, Distribution Committee of The Cornerstone Charitable Foundation
- Trustee, The Charles King Charitable Trust (funding medical research)
- Member (and former Program Committee Co-Chair), The Women’s Business Network
- Past Chair, New Developments Committee of Boston Bar Association Trusts & Estates Section
- Former Board Member, Howard Benevolent Society (a charity providing emergency cash grants)
- Elected a Massachusetts Super Lawyer, 2004 - 2007
- Past Member, Planning Committee for The Honorable Ruth I. Abrams Endowment for Women in the Law