For over twenty years, Shelby has practiced in the areas of estate planning and tax law, and has advised individuals, families, and closely-held businesses on issues dealing with estate and generation-skipping tax planning, charitable planning, income tax planning, and tax compliance. She has extensive experience in advising closely held business owners in multiple industries on intergenerational business succession issues.

In addition, Shelby maintains a significant estate settlement and trust administration practice, and regularly represents individuals, fiduciaries, and tax-exempt organizations on a wide range of routine and complex matters before Connecticut probate courts, the Internal Revenue Service, and state taxing authorities.

While Shelby heads up the firm’s Westport office, her practice is statewide and she spends significant time in all offices of the firm. Shelby is a frequent lecturer on the national and local levels on various trusts & estates, tax and closely-held business issues. Shelby is the current chair of the Western Connecticut Estate and Tax Planning Council, and also serves as co-chair of the Estate and Probate and Tax Committees of the Fairfield County Bar Association. She is the past chair of the subcommittee on Closely-Held Businesses of the American Bar Association Tax Section, and remains active in its programming. She is also a member of the Executive Committee of the Connecticut Bar Association Tax Section, and is a member of the Estates & Probate Section.

Shelby is a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel, an organization in which membership is an honor reserved for those at the top of their chosen profession. The College’s members, called “Fellows,” are recognized for their extraordinary accomplishments and professional achievements and for their dedication to improving the practice of tax law.

A lifelong resident of Orange, Shelby is very active in community affairs. She served as Assistant Town Moderator for several years. She also served on the Hopkins School Alumni Board of Directors and on the Board of Directors of LifeBridge Community Services. Currently, Shelby serves on the Town of Orange Ethics Commission and sits on the Endowment Committee of the Milford Arts Council.

Education

• Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, District of Columbia
  • LL.M. in Taxation
     
• University of Connecticut School of Law, Hartford, Connecticut
  • J.D. 
  • Honors: CALI Award, Tax Clinic
     
• Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, PA
  • B.A. 

Specialties and Certifications

• Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel

Professional Associations

• Connecticut Bar Association
• American Bar Association
• Fairfield County Bar Association
• Western Connecticut Estate and Tax Planning Council

Classes & Seminars

• Giving Away the Store: A Primer on Business Succession Planning and Post-Mortem Financing of Tax Liabilities of Estates Holding Closely Held Business Interests, ABA Section of Taxation Mid-Year Meeting, January 21, 2011, Boca Raton, Florida
• State Decoupling Issues in Business Succession Planning, ABA Section of Taxation and Section of Real Property, Trusts & Estates Fall Meeting, October 21, 2011, Denver, Colorado
• Estate Planning Gone Awry: What Happens When Things Don’t Work Out the Way We Planned? ABA Section of Taxation Mid-Year Meeting, February 17, 2012, San Diego, California
• Chapter 14 Overview with Planning Implications, Moderator, ABA Section of Taxation and Section of Real Property, Trusts & Estates Fall Meeting, September 14, 2012, Boston, Massachusetts
• Beyond IRC §6166: The Future of “Graegin”-Style Loans, ABA Section of Taxation and Section of Real Property, Trust & Estates Fall Meeting, September 20, 2013, San Francisco, California
• Cradle to Grave – An Overview of Legal and Practical Aspects of Representing Businesses, ABA section of Taxation May Meeting May 9, 2014, Washington, DC
• Estate and Tax Planning for Same-Sex Couples, National Business Institute, October 20, 2014, Hartford, Connecticut
• State Income Taxation of Trusts Holding Business Interests, ABA Section of Real Property, Trusts & Estates Spring Symposia, April 30, 2015, Washington, DC
• Buy-Sell Agreements for Closely Held Businesses, ABA Section of Taxation, May Meeting, May 8, 2015, Washington, DC
• Breaking Up is Hard to Do, Tax and Practical Implications of Unwinding Business Affairs among Multiple Partners, ABA Section of Taxation and Section of Real Property, Trusts & Estates Fall Meeting, September 18, 2015, Chicago, Illinois, update of program for ABA Section of Taxation Mid-Year meeting, January 31, 2022, Boca Raton, Florida
• Probating Estates that Include a Business, National Business Institute, December 18, 2015, Hartford, Connecticut
• Dealing with a Decedent’s Tax Fraud: Cleaning up Our Dead Clients’ Past Behavior, ABA Section of Taxation Mid-Year Meeting, January 29, 2016, Los Angeles, California
• A Primer on Key Tax Elections to Plan for When Estate Planning with Closely Held Business Interests, ABA Section of Taxation and Section of Real Property, Trusts & Estates Fall Meeting, September 30, 2016, Boston, Massachusetts
• Practical Uses of Sales of Business Interests to Intentionally Defective Grantor Trusts and Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts for Closely Held Business Owners, ABA Section of Taxation and Section of Real Property, Trusts & Estates Fall Meeting, September 15, 2017, Austin, Texas
• A Guide to Charitable Planning Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Baruch College Zicklin Executive Taxation Series, October 19, 2018, New York, New York
• Tax & Estate Planning Opportunities and Pitfalls Under the New Tax Act, New England IRS Representation Conference, Mohegan Sun Casino & Resort, Uncasville, Connecticut, November 20, 2018
• Selecting a Domicile for the Family Trust, Connecticut High Net Worth Conference, Sacred Heart University, Jack Welch College of Business, June 7, 2019
• Transferring the Family Business, Connecticut High Net Worth Conference, Sacred Heart University, Jack Welch College of Business, June 7, 2019
• Divorce Part I- Planning to Protect the Client and Family Business Before and During the Marriage, Connecticut High Net Worth Conference, Jack Welch College of Business, June 7, 2019
• The Impact of the 2017 Tax Act on Tax & Estate Planning, Connecticut High Net Worth Conference, Sacred Heart University, Jack Welch College of Business, June 7, 2019
• What Every CPA Needs to Know About Estate Planning Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Baruch College Zicklin Executive Taxation Series, September 23, 2019, New York, New York
• The Tax Fallout of Business Breakups, New England IRS Representation Conference, Mohegan Sun Casino & Resort, Uncasville, Connecticut, November 22, 2019
• Trust Administration in Connecticut, Fairfield County Bar Association, October 26, 2022
• The SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022: An Update and Refresher on Retirement Plans Inside and Outside the Workplace, Fairfield County Bar Association, May 23, 2023
• Tales from the Labyrinth: Current Issues in Trust Jurisdiction and Residency, Western Connecticut Estate and Tax Planning Council, January 30, 2024
• Connecticut Income Tax Apportionment and the Taxation of Remote Workers, Connecticut Legal Conference (CBA Section of Taxation), June 10, 2024

Bar Admissions

• Connecticut

Published Works

• Going … going … gone at the end of 2012, Fairfield County Business Journal, March 5, 2012
• The State of the Federal Estate Tax and Why Proper Planning Remains Critical, Fairfield County Business Journal, February 18, 2013. Planning for the Transition of a Real Estate Business: A Primer on Buy-Sell Agreements, Co-Authored with J. Robert Turnipseed, Bloomberg BNA Tax Management Real Estate Journal, August 5, 2015

Honors

• Connecticut Law Tribune, New Leaders in the Law Award, 2012
• New England/Connecticut Superlawyers – Selected as a Rising Star in areas of Tax Law and Estate Planning & Probate, 2013 & 2014