Our People | Katherine Barr

Sirote > Our People > Katherine N. Barr

Katherine N. Barr	Shareholder
Birmingham kbarr@sirote.com Tel: 205.930.5147 Fax: 205.212.3856	Assistant Kathy Stephens kstephens@sirote.com 205.930.5231

A member of the firm's Estate, Wills & Trusts department, Katherine handles all aspects of estate planning and administration for clients. Her passion, however, and the focus of much of her practice involves special needs planning. She assists clients in providing for a child or family member with special needs in a way that does not jeopardize government benefits. She also assists when a person with a disability will receive a personal injury settlement or an inheritance and needs to keep SSI or Medicaid.

For Individuals

Estate and Tax Planning

Estates, Wills and Trusts

Special Needs Planning

Licensed to Practice

Alabama

Advises clients in planning their estates to accomplish their goals for distribution of assets to beneficiaries while minimizing estate tax liability
Assists families in planning for maximum government support and financial assistance to continue care for disabled family members, including preparation of special needs trusts
Assists with settlement of personal injury cases for persons with disabilities and prepared court-created special needs trusts to receive settlement proceeds
Assists families of the deceased in probate administration
Drafts necessary documents, such as wills and trusts, to carry out clients' estate plans
Works with families who need conservatorships for managing the assets of minors or for the management of the business affairs or the care of an incapacitated person

Special Needs Alliance, Alabama member
American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), fellow
National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, 1996-present
Alabama Family Trust, advisory board
Birmingham Estate Planning Council
Alabama Super Lawyers, Estate Planning and Probate
Birmingham Magazine "Top Attorney," Trusts and Estates
Best Lawyers in America, Trusts and Estates
Recipient of the highest rating attainable by Martindale-Hubbell, a reflection of having achieved preeminent status in the areas of professional skill and integrity

Birmingham Bar Association
- Elder & Disability Law Subcommittee
American Bar Association
- Real Property, Probate & Trust Section Committee on Committee on Long-Term Care, Medicaid & Special Needs Trusts, Chair
- Elder Law, Disability Planning & Bioethics Group, 1996-present
- Real Property, Trust & Estate Section, Publications Committee
- Immediate past Group Chair, Committees on Surrogate Decision Making, Special Needs Trusts, Medicaid & Long-Term Care and Bioethics
American Bar Foundation, fellow
Frequent speaker at national, state and local professional education seminars presenting topics related to special needs trusts, planning for the disabled, estate planning and estate administration

Schools

Cumberland School of Law
JD, cum laude, 1985
Auburn University
BA, 1975
Samford University
MBA, 1985

Additional Accolades

Cumberland School of Law

The Cumberland Law Review, Writing Editor

VSA Alabama, board of directors

Alabama's Special Camp for Children and Adults (Camp ASCCA), an Easter Seals Organization, board of directors, 1999-02

Parent Advocates of Down Syndrome Group (PADS), board of directors, 2005-06

Author, "Art Programs Matter in Alabama", ACDD Advocate, Fall 2011
Author, "When Parents of Children with Special Needs Divorce", The Counselor, Spring 2010
Author, "Guardianships for Family Members with Disabilities", The Counselor, Spring 2008
Co-author, "Guardianships for Family Members with Disabilities", Estate Planning Advantage, Fall 2007

Author, "Top 15 Tips for Estate Planners when Planning for Special Needs", Probate & Property, March/April 2010
Author, "When Parents of Children with Special Needs Divorce", ACDD Advocate, Fall 2009
Author, "Designating a Special Needs Trust as a Beneficiary of Retirement Assets Part II", Exceptional Parent Magazine, Dec 2006
Author, "Designating a Special Needs Trust as a Beneficiary of Retirement Assets Part I", Exceptional Parent Magazine, Nov 2006

Author, "Celebrate the Power of Creativity with Alabama's Very Special Artists," Sirote Supports, August 2012
Co-author, "Planning for Children and Adults with Disabilities: The Benefits of Combining Charitable Planning and Special Needs Trusts",The Journal of Gift Planning, 3rd Quarter 2006
Author, "General Practitioners Beware: The Duty to Refer an Estate Planning Client to a Specialist", 14 Cum. L. Rev. 103, 1984

Sirote's Katherine N. Barr to Moderate Special Needs Panel at ABA Symposia - 4/25/2013

Sirote Legal Alert: The Changing Tax Climate - 12/10/2012

Best Lawyers Recognizes 43 Attorneys from Sirote & Permutt as the "Best Lawyers in America" for 2013 - 11/5/2012

Sirote Lawyer Katherine Barr Supports Art Therapy For Persons With Disabilities - 6/18/2012

Katherine Barr Elected To Special Needs Alliance Board - 12/8/2011

Katherine Barr to Moderate ABA Webinar - 8/15/2011

Craig Stephens Fellow in the American College of Trust & Estate Counsel - 4/25/2011

Katherine Barr Appointed to Supervisory Position for the American Bar Association’s Real Property, Trust & Estate Section - 1/28/2011

Katherine Barr & Joel Mendler to Speak at CLE Alabama Seminar - 1/26/2011

Katherine Barr Featured Speaker at American Bar Association Meeting - 10/18/2010

Best Lawyers has selected 32 attorneys from Sirote & Permutt for recognition in The Best Lawyers in America for 2011 - 8/27/2010

31 Sirote Attorneys Listed In Best Lawyers - 8/7/2009

31 Sirote attorneys listed in the 2010 edition of Best Lawyers Read More

Publication Recognizes 20 From Sirote As Super Lawyers - 5/19/2009

Birmingham law firm Sirote & Permutt is pleased to announce that 20 attorneys from the firm were selected for inclusion in the “2009 Super Lawyers” publication. Read More

Birmingham Magazine Recognizes 17 From Sirote As Top Attorneys - 3/10/2009

Birmingham law firm, Sirote & Permutt, is pleased to announce that 17 attorneys from the firm were selected by their peers for inclusion in the list of “Top Attorneys” published in Birmingham Magazine. Read More

Fourteen Sirote Lawyers Named to Super Lawyers - 6/9/2008

Sirote & Permutt had fourteen lawyers listed in the 2008 edition of Alabama Super Lawyers. They were Katherine N. Barr, Robert R. Baugh, Steven A. Brickman, Julian D. Butler, John H. Cooper, Elizabeth H. Hutchins, Ronald A. Levitt, Melinda M. Mathews, Joel A. Mendler, Lenora W. Pate, J. Jeffrey Rich, Maurice L. Shevin, Judith F. Todd, and George M. Van Tassel, Jr. Read More

Katherine N. Barr

Shareholder

For Individuals

Licensed to Practice

Schools

Additional Accolades

For Businesses

For Individuals