Shelly Denise Merritt

Shelly D. Merritt graduated with honors from the University of Texas at Arlington with a Bachelor of Business Administration in accounting in 1987. She received her law degree from the University of Texas School of Law in 1991 and is also a Certified Public Accountant. She is an AVrated attorney with over 20 years of experience representing individuals, families, closely held businesses, executives, and small business owners. She is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, a past council member of the Trust and Estate Section of the Colorado Bar Association, and past chair of its Statutory Revisions Committee. She is licensed to practice law in Colorado and Texas. Ms. Merritt’s estate planning practice focuses on sophisticated estate, asset protection, and wealth transfer planning; international estate planning; and probate and estate and trust administration. Her small business practice focuses on the formation of closely held, for-profit and not-for-profit entities; drafting and filing of entity documents; tax planning and advice; negotiation of business transactions; and general corporate counsel services. She is a current board member and the treasurer of Boulder Valley Women’s Health Center and is a past trustee, treasurer, and chair of the Legal and Audit committees of The Community Foundation Serving Boulder County. She served as co-chair of the Taxation, Estate Planning and Probate Section of the Boulder County Bar Association (2001-2002), and as the chair of the Programs Committee of the Colorado Women’s Bar Association (1998-1999 fiscal year). Ms. Merritt has given numerous presentations on estate planning topics and authored “Reforming Charitable Remainder Trusts in Colorado under the New IRS Procedures,” an article published in the September 1999 issue of The Colorado Lawyer, and “Planning for Community Property in Colorado,” an article published in the June 2002 issue of The Colorado Lawyer, and has lectured on various estate planning topics. 3/18