Attorney Profiles

Walt is a shareholder at Miller & Steiert, P.C. where his practice for the past 11 years has been limited to estate planning, trust and estate and administration, preparation of federal and state estate tax returns, probate & selected estate litigation. He is a fellow of ACTEC and member of the American, Colorado and Arapahoe County Bar Associations and is a section member of the Real Property; Probate and Trust Law Section of the ABA, and the Trust and Estate Section of the Colorado Bar Association. He is the recent past chairman of the Statutory Revisions Committee of the Trust and Estate Section and recently served as chairman of the Risbry Subcommittee, which addressed the role of a personal representative in estate litigation. He is currently a member of the Uniform Estate Tax Apportionment Act Subcommittee, which is considering whether to recommend adoption of the Act in Colorado.

He recently served as a member of the Colorado Trust and Estate Council (2003-2005). He authored an article for the Colorado Lawyer entitled, A Personal Representative's Right to Participate in a Will Contest which was published in April 2004. He is the recent revisor/author of Chapter 8, entitled Inter Vivos Trusts of the 2004 edition of the Colorado Estate Planning Handbook.

Walt has served on the Colorado Multiple Sclerosis Planned Giving Advisory Board; he has spoken to numerous groups regarding the topic of estate planning and related issues and has been a presenter at CLE programs in Colorado. He has also presented to the Colorado Springs Probate Bar and the Denver Trust Officers Association. He received his B.A. from the University of Vermont in 1970 and his J.D. from the University of Denver in 1973, He has an AV rating.

For the past 10 years, Walt Kelly has limited his practice to the areas of estate planning and probate matters, His estate planning practice involves both simple and tax- planned estates, using either will-based or trust-based planning tools. His practice includes drafting medical and business powers of attorney, living wills, last wishes documents. He reviews asset ownership and beneficiary designations to coordinate the different elements of an individuals overall estate plan, including an individual's retirement accounts.

His estate administration practice includes handling informal and formal probates, conservatorships, and guardianships. It includes trust administration, the preparation of federal estate tax returns, and selected contested probate litigation matters.

PHILOSOPHY
Walt believes the essence of good planning is understanding and meeting the clients needs and objectives in an efficient manner.