Estate Planning Strategies When Using Exemptions – Ways to Act Now & Avoid Remorse Later

Mr. Blattmachr is a Principal in ILS Management, LLC and a retired member of Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy LLP in New York, NY and of the Alaska, California and New York Bars. He is recognized as one of the most creative trusts and estates lawyers in the country and is listed in The Best Lawyers in America. He has written and lectured extensively on estate and trust taxation and charitable giving.

Mr. Blattmachr graduated from Columbia University School of Law cum laude, where he was recognized as a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, and received his A.B. degree from Bucknell University, majoring in mathematics. He has served as a lecturer-in-law of the Columbia University School of Law and is an Adjunct Professor of Law at New York University Law School in its Masters in Tax Program (LLM). He is a former chairperson of the Trusts & Estates Law Section of the New York State Bar Association and of several committees of the American Bar Association. Mr. Blattmachr is a Fellow and a former Regent of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and past chair of its Estate and Gift Tax Committee. He is author or co-author of eight books and more than 500 articles on estate planning and tax topics.

Among professional activities, which are too numerous to list, Mr. Blattmachr has served as an Advisor on The American Law Institute, Restatement of the Law, Trusts 3rd; and as a Fellow of The New York Bar Foundation and a member of the American Bar Foundation.

Matthew Blattmachr is the President and CEO at Peak Trust Company. He is an active member of the Trust Committee and is responsible for managing account opening, administration and review, in addition to client and vendor relationship management, reviewing and approving trust documents, performing trust and estate administration, discretionary distributions, and performing private foundation creation and administration. Matthew is also on the Board of the Anchorage Senior Center Endowment Fund.

Matthew holds a Master’s in Business Administration from Alaska Pacific University, a Bachelor degree from the University of Alaska Anchorage, a CFP designation from the College of Financial Planning, and has earned a Certified Fiduciary & Investment Risk Management Specialist designation from the Cannon Financial Institute.

Vanessa Kanaga currently serves as InterActive Legal’s Special Advisor on Estate Planning and Legal Strategy.  She is the former CEO of InterActive Legal.  Vanessa received her J.D. from Cornell Law School and holds a B.A. in Philosophy from Wichita State University, as well as an Advanced Professional Certificate from New York University School of Law. She is licensed in New York, Kansas, and Arizona, and currently lives in Arizona.

Prior to joining InterActive Legal in 2013, Vanessa practiced in New York, at Milbank LLP and Moses & Singer LLP, and in Kansas, at Hinkle Law Firm, LLC. She has experience in a range of estate planning matters, including high net worth tax planning and asset protection planning.

In 2024, Vanessa returned to the practice of law.  She is an Associate Attorney at Greengard Law Firm, PLC in Phoenix, Arizona.