Providing Focused Attention Backed By Extensive Experience

Maria M. Lynch

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Practice Areas:

  • Estate Planning
  • Estate Administration
  • Tax Exempt Organizations

Biography

Maria's practice is focused on estate planning, estate administration and exempt organization planning. Maria is Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and is a Board Certified Specialist in Estate Planning and Probate Law. She served as president of the Tenth Judicial District bar in 2018. Maria was elected by the members of the Tenth Judicial District Bar to the maximum three consecutive terms as a North Carolina State Bar Councilor from 1993 to 2001. She is a past 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. In 2017 she received Joseph Branch Professionalism award from the Wake County Bar Association.

Maria was an adjunct professor for many years at the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill School of Law and has been 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.

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

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

Honors

  • Business NC Legal Elite Hall of Fame Tax and Estate Planning, 2011 – Present
  • Business NC Legal Elite Tax and Estate Planning
  • Best Lawyers in America Tax and Estate Planning
  • North Carolina Super Lawyers
  • Sarah H. Davis Excellence Award in Recognition of Outstanding Leadership as a Board Certified Specialist in Estate Planning and Probate Law
  • John B. McMillan Distinguished Service Award
  • Joseph Branch Professionalism Award from the Wake County Bar Association
  • Distinguished Service Award from the North Carolina Bar Association's Estate Planning and Fiduciary Law Section, 2023

Classes & Seminars

  • Wills, Trusts and Estates, University of North Carolina School of Law, 2005 – 2007, 2017, 2018, 2019
  • Wills, Trusts and Estates, Duke University School of Law, 2007
  • Why We Love Private Foundation: North Carolina Bar Association, 2017
  • How to Negotiate a Fiduciary Litigation Case: North Carolina Bar Association, 2013

Professional Associations

  • North Carolina Bar Association, Member, 1980 to Present
  • American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, Fellow, 1995 to Present
  • North Carolina Bar Association Estate Planning Fiduciary Law Section, Council Member, 2010 to 2016
  • North Carolina Bar Association Estate Planning Fiduciary Law Section, Chair, Ethics Committee, 2007 to 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 to 2014
  • 10th Judicial District Grievance Committee, Chair, 2010 to 2011
  • North Carolina State Bar, Councilor, 1993 to 2001
  • Tenth Judicial District Bar, President, 2018

Past Positions

  • Hon. J. Dickson Phillips, Jr., U.S. Circuit Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, Law Clerk, 1979 to 1980

Certified Legal Specialties

  • Board Certified Specialist, Estate Planning and Probate Law, North Carolina State Board of Legal Specialization