Gary Mazart
gm@spsk.com

Gary Mazart is a partner with Schenck, Price, Smith & King, LLP, chairing the firm’s Tax, Trust and Estate Department and co-chairing its Elder Law/Disability Law Practice Group. His principal focus has been in the area of estate tax planning, particularly lifetime and disability planning for aging, illness, incapacity and the costs of long-term health care.

Mr. Mazart is the editor of and contributing author to New Jersey Elder and Disability Law Practice published by the New Jersey Institute of Continuing Legal Education. He also has authored “Lifetime Planning” and “Protecting the Home in Government Benefits Planning,” and co-authored “Transfer Tax Planning for Incapacitated Persons by Guardians,” and “Matrimonial Settlements – A Public Benefits Conundrum” all published in New Jersey Lawyer Magazine by the New Jersey Bar Association. Mr. Mazart is also a regular lecturer to professional and civic groups on estate tax, lifetime and disability planning issues and in that regard has prepared presentation materials including most recently, “Planning for Parents with Special Needs Children;” “Lifetime Planning and Government Benefits Eligibility for Custodial Care Coverage After the Balanced Budget Act of 1997;” “Private Annuities and Self-Canceling Installment Sales in Medicaid and Estate Planning;” “Tax Considerations in Government Benefits Planning;” “Family Limited Partnerships: Estate and Medicaid Planning Strategies;” “Family Limited Partnerships and Business Valuations: Same As It Ever Was;” and “Estate and Gift Tax Provisions of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001: A Practical Overview for The Elder Law Practitioner.” Most recently, Mr. Mazart co-authored an article for Estate Planning, Volume 36, entitled “The Revival of the Income-Only Trust in Medicaid Planning”, and an article for the February 2009 edition of New Jersey Lawyer Magazine entitled, “Trusts for the Benefit of Disabled Persons: Understanding the Differences Between Special Needs Trusts and Supplemental Benefits Trusts.”

As part of his involvement in the area of lifetime and estate planning, Mr. Mazart helped to found the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. He is former vice-chair of its New Jersey Chapter and is past chair of its Tax Special Interest Group. He is also a former Consultor to the New Jersey State Bar Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section and a member of the Northern New Jersey Estate Planning Council and the Guardianship Association of New Jersey. Mr. Mazart is a former Board Chairman of the Community Health Law Project, a not-for-profit legal services corporation serving the indigent disabled and frail elderly, and was chair of the New Jersey State Bar Association Elder and Disability Law Section.

In 2004 - 2010, American Lawyer listed Mr. Mazart among the Best Lawyers in America – Trusts & Estates. Previously, Mr. Mazart was acknowledged as a leader in the trust and estate field and was elected as a Fellow to the American College of Trust and Estate Council. Mr. Mazart also has been recognized by the American Bar Association Young Lawyer’s Division as one of “Twenty Young Lawyers Who Make A Difference” and was profiled in Barrister magazine. In 2006 - 2009 Mr. Mazart was listed in New York magazine among the best Trusts and Estates lawyers in the New York area. He was also recognized in 2006 – 2011 by New Jersey Monthly magazine as one of New Jersey’s “Super Lawyers” in Trusts and Estates.

Active in the community, Mr. Mazart has served as Trustee, Elder and Council member for the Community Church of Smoke Rise. He was a legal correspondent to News 12, New Jersey’s twenty-four hour television cable news network, and was a long-standing member of the National Board of the Alzheimer’s Association. In New Jersey, Mr. Mazart served as Vice-President of the Chapter Board of the Alzheimer’s Association and now is a member of its Advisory Board.

Bar Admissions:

• New Jersey (1984)
• New York (1984)