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Overview

Matt is a trusted advisor on a broad range of estate and tax planning as well as tax-exempt matters.

Clients rely on Matt’s three decades of experience in estate and gift tax planning, along with the formation, compliance and administration of tax-exempt organizations. Matt counsels individuals, families and businesses across multiple industries on how to best secure their future. He also advises public and nonprofit entities – including the Saint Louis Art Museum – on foundations and related charitable activities. Matt’s guidance includes:

  • Business succession planning
  • Probate and trust administration
  • Charitable planning
  • Taxation of trusts and estates

Matt understands the available issues and options, enabling him to advocate efficiently and economically on clients’ behalf. He enjoys working with both long-standing and newly referred clients, collaborating with their financial advisors and professionals in other knowledge centers to secure clients’ future goals of security, growth and longevity.

Industry

Services

Recognition

  • The Best Lawyers in America®, Trusts and Estates, 2003-2023; Nonprofit / Charities Law, 2021-2023; Best Lawyers® Trusts and Estates Law "Lawyer of the Year," St. Louis, 2016, 2018
  • Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent
  • Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers, Estate Planning & Probate, 2005-2022
  • The Missouri Bar, Outstanding Leadership and Dedication to MoBarCLE, August 2015
  • Professional Advisor Recognition Award, Saint Louis Planned Giving Council (SLPGC), 2016

Education

  • J.D., Saint Louis University School of Law
    • cum laude
  • B.S., University of Missouri
    • summa cum laude

Admissions

  • Missouri

Professional Memberships and Certifications

  • American Bar Association
  • American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), Fellow
  • The Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, Nonprofit Committee
  • Estate Planning Council of St. Louis
  • The Missouri Bar
Experience

Tax, Trust, and Estate Planning

  • Drafted trust and estate planning documents, including wills, revocable and irrevocable trusts, financial and medical durable powers of attorney, living wills, healthcare declarations, qualified spousal trusts, life insurance trusts, charitable remainder and lead trusts, family trusts, dynasty trusts, qualified personal residence trusts, discretionary trusts, generation-skipping trusts and asset protection trusts.
  • Designed and implemented prenuptial and postnuptial agreements.

Estate and Trust Administration/Probate

  • Counseled professional and nonprofessional administrators of trusts and estates on fiduciary duties.
  • Assisted with probate and trust administration, fiduciary income tax returns and accountings.

Asset Protection

  • Advised clients on asset-protection strategies, risk and exposure, both during life and after death using asset protection trusts, irrevocable trusts, limited liability companies, prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, and insurance planning.

Business/Corporate

  • Prepared buy-sell agreements, family business plans, purchase and sale agreements, asset purchase agreements, stock purchase agreements and promissory notes.
  • Developed and structured exit strategies that maximized client's goals and objectives.
  • Helped clients devise practical and effective business succession plans.
  • Formed entities, including limited liability companies, corporations and partnerships.

Litigation and Special Needs

  • Represented clients in litigation on matters such as will and estate contests, breach of fiduciary duty, trust accountings, spousal claims, beneficiary rights, creditor claims and undue influence.
  • Counseled clients on use of special needs trusts and guardianships and conservatorships, preparing special needs trusts, testamentary special needs trusts and other discretionary trusts.
News Releases | August 15, 2019
Husch Blackwell Places 143 Lawyers in 2020 BL Rankings' Best Lawyers in America®

The firm has eight "Lawyers of the Year" and 11 attorneys appearing on the list for the first time.

News Releases | November 14, 2018
Thomson Reuters' Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers and Rising Stars 2018 Names 58 Husch Blackwell Attorneys

Husch Blackwell has 58 attorneys in the 2018 edition of Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers and Rising Stars.

News Releases | August 15, 2018
Husch Blackwell Places 143 Lawyers in 2019 BL Rankings' Best Lawyers in America®

The Best Lawyers in America® has listed 143 Husch Blackwell attorneys in its 2019 directory. The firm has eight "Lawyers of the Year" and five attorneys appearing on the list for the first time.

Outside the Office

Matt is a dedicated soccer fan.

He and his wife are United Soccer League (USL) season ticket holders, and they like to travel – most recently to Edinburgh, Scotland. At home, Matt enjoys cooking, often Cajun and Indian recipes, and bottling his own hot sauce made from garden-grown cayenne peppers.

Community Leadership
  • Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, Planned Giving Advisory Council
  • Downtown Children’s Center, president, 1994-1996
  • International Institute of Metropolitan St. Louis, Board of Directors, 1992-1998; vice chair, 1997-1998
  • St. Joseph Institute for the Deaf, secretary, 2010-2017
  • Saint Louis Art Museum, Planned Giving Council
  • Special Education Foundation, Board of Directors, chairman, 2011-2013
  • St. Francis Xavier College Church, Pastoral Council and Financial Development Commission