Partner | Estate Planning | Probate Litigation | Trust Administration
CurrentMichael T. Clear is a partner in the firm's Private Client Services Department. Michael focuses his practice on estate planning, estate and trust administration, probate litigation and business succession planning.His estate planning practice includes assisting individuals and families with tax-efficient and practical estate and gift planning, including the preparation of wills, revocable living trusts, insurance trusts, and qualified personal residence trusts. He also facilitates our clients incapacity planning.He guides fiduciaries and beneficiaries through estate settlement and trust administration matters. His estate and trust administration practice often intertwines with his probate litigation practice where he advises clients in will and trust construction cases, contested accounting proceedings, fiduciary removal proceedings, payment of unpaid claims and conservatorship and guardianship matters.Michael also assists our business owner clients with succession planning by presenting to family groups on business/estate planning matters and preparing business entities, shareholders' agreements, buy-sell agreements, grantor retained annuity trusts and facilitates the sales/purchases of business assets.Michael received his J.D. magna cum laude from the Quinnipiac University School of Law, where he served as the Executive Managing Editor of the Quinnipiac Probate Law Journal. At graduation, he was the recipient of the Academic Excellence Award, Superior Classroom Performance Award, and CATIC Foundation Award. He received numerous Academic Excellence Awards during law school.He received his B.A. in Political Science from the University of Richmond, where he also played Division One baseball. He has a M.Ed. focusing on College Student Personnel from the University of Maryland.
