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Linda Kotis, Ivins, Phillips & Barker, Chartered Photo

Linda Kotis

Of Counsel

Linda brings a wealth of experience which ensures her clients’ non-tax issues are given as much attention as their tax-related matters. When she’s not reading the Uniform Trust Code, Linda may be found cycling on the Anacostia Trail, playing her violin, or attending Nats games.

Profile

Linda advises clients on forming and revising their estate plans and analyzes estate, income, generation-skipping transfer, and gift taxation matters for high net worth individuals and families.  Linda’s significant experience also includes analysis of complex state trust administration and non-tax issues, charitable gift planning and real property transfers.

Prior to joining IPB, Linda practiced law for seven years at an AmLaw 100 firm. During her tenure in the Estates, Trusts, and Tax Planning Group, she gained significant experience with the administration of large and complex estates, formation of private foundations, and high net worth guardianships.  She is the author of articles on trusts, estates, and tax topics and has spoken at the ABA, DC Bar, and breakfast briefings on fiduciary administration issues. 

Education

Vanderbilt University Law School, 1986, J.D.

  • Johnson & Swanson Appellate Advocacy Award
  • Journal of Transnational Law, Special Projects Editor

University of Tennessee, 1981, B.S.

Bar & Court Admissions

District of Columbia

California (inactive)

Indiana (inactive)

Maryland

Memberships & Affiliations

Estate Planning Council of Montgomery County, Maryland

American Bar Association, Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Section

District of Columbia Bar Association, Estates, Trusts and Probate Law Section and Taxation Section

Member, IPB Diversity Equity and Inclusion Committee

Mentor for ABA Argrett Fellow, 2023-2024

Honors & Awards

Super Lawyers 2023 - present

Experience

Representative Matters

  • Structuring inter vivos trusts to use client’s DSUE and to freeze value of closely held stock.  
  • Analysis of tax and trust law implications of turning off the grantor trust status of an irrevocable trust.
  • Creation and administration of GRATs funded with Series LLC interests. 
  • Non-judicial termination of irrevocable trusts through decanting.
  • Development of private foundation individual grants program and obtaining IRS determination letter.
  • Petitions to probate court to approve post-mortem transactions under the estate administration exception to the private foundation self-dealing rules.

News & Events

News

Publications

Speeches & Presentations

  • Lessons from a Trust-Maker - 2022 webinar with co-presenter Gina Lynn, Esq. based on Lessons from a Trust-Maker
  • Planning to SECURE Charitable Gifts: How the SECURE Act Supports Donations of Retirement Assets - 2020 webinar with Judith Barnhard, CPA, of Councilor Buchanan & Mitchell at the Greater Washington Society of CPAs’ 2020 Nonprofit Symposium (December 14, 2020)
  • Lemons to Lemonade: Making Use of the Delaware Tax Trap. DC Bar: Estates, Trusts and Probate Community, November 13, 2018. Co-Presenter: Kasey A. Place
  • Taking Charge of Your Financial Wellness: How to Maximize Your Employee Benefits to Secure a Comfortable Retirement. WIPL: Executive Leadership Forum (panelist), October 4, 2018.
  • The Unexamined Trust is Not Worth Drafting. DC Bar: Estates, Trusts and Probate Community, September 12, 2017. Co-Presenter: Kasey A. Place
  • “Same-Sex Spouses, Partners, and Adult Adoptions: Trust Administration Issues Presented by Beneficiary Relationships,” District of Columbia Bar Estates, Trusts and Probate Law Section (panelist), May 17, 2011; Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP Breakfast Briefing (panelist), February 23, 2010; ABA Annual Joint Taxation/RPTE Meeting, Toronto, Canada (panelist and moderator), September 24, 2010
  • “Pitfalls & Practical Advice: Trust Accounting & Disclosure Sufficient to Limit the Timeframe of Beneficiary Claims,” Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP Breakfast Briefing (panelist), June 18, 2009
  • “Estate Planning: An Opportunity to Show You Care, US Chamber of Commerce (panelist), October 28, 2005
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