Maria M. Lynch
Maria M. Lynch is a partner in Lynch & Eatman, L.L.P. Maria is Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and is a Board Certified Specialist in Estate Planning and Probate Law. Maria served as a North Carolina State Bar Councilor from 1993 to 2001 and is a member of the North Carolina Bar Association Estate Planning and Fiduciary Law Section Council and the past chair of its Ethics Committee. She is a past Chair of the Estate Planning and Probate Law Specialty Committee, North Carolina State Bar Board of Legal Specialization.
Maria has been an adjunct professor at UNC-Chapel Hill School of Law and a Senior Lecturing Fellow at Duke University School of Law. She received her B.A. with high honors from the University of Tennessee and her J.D. with honors from UNC-Chapel Hill. Maria is a frequent speaker on estate planning and ethics issues. Maria's practice is focused on estate planning, estate administration and exempt organization planning.
Areas of Practice
- Estate Planning
- Estate Administration
- Tax Exempt Organizations
Certified Legal Specialties
- Board Certified Specialist, Estate Planning and Probate Law, North Carolina State Board of Legal Specialization
Bar Admissions
- North Carolina, 1979
- U.S. District Court Eastern District of North Carolina, 1980
- U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit, 1980
- U.S. Tax Court, 1981
Education
- University of North Carolina School of Law, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
- J.D. - 1979
- Honors: With Honors
- Honors: Order of the Coif
- Law Review: University of North Carolina Law Review, Research Editor, 1978 - 1979
- University of Tennessee
- B.A. - 1974
- Honors: With High Honors
Classes/Seminars
- Wills, Trusts and Estates, University of North Carolina School of Law, 2005 - 2007
- Wills, Trusts and Estates, Duke University School of Law, 2007 - Present
Honors and Awards
- Legal Elite Hall of Fame Tax and Estate Planning, 2011 - Present
- Legal Elite Tax and Estate Planning, 2004 - 2011
- Best Lawyers in America Tax and Estate Planning, 1991 - 2011
- SuperLawyers, 2006 - 2011
- Sarah H. Davis Excellence Award in Recognition of Outstanding Leadership as a Board Certified Specialist in Estate Planning and Probate Law, 2006 - Present
Professional Associations and Memberships
- North Carolina Bar Association, Member, 1980 - Present
- American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, Fellow, 1995 - Present
- North Carolina Bar Association Estate Planning Fiduciary Law Section, Council Member, 2010 - Present
- North Carolina Bar Association Estate Planning Fiduciary Law Section, Chair, Ethics Committee, 2007 - 2011
- Estate Planning and Probate Law Specialty Committee North Carolina State Bar Board of Legal Specialization, Past Chair
- Wake County Bar Association Board of Directors, Director, 2011 - Present
- 10th Judicial District Grievance Committee, Chair, 2009 - Present
Past Employment Positions
- Hon. J. Dickson Phillips, Jr., U.S. Circuit Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, Law Clerk, 1979 - 1980
















