For over 20 years, Sheryl, a principal at Gray Plat Mooty, has focused her practice in the areas of estate and wealth planning, transfer tax strategies, business succession planning, estate and trust administration, creation and administration of charitable trusts and nonprofit organizations, and guardianships and conservatorships. She helps clients accomplish their objectives for management, protection, and preservation of their wealth through strategies which minimize taxes and promote effective ongoing family management of assets, including wills, revocable trusts, testamentary and inter vivos irrevocable trusts, generation-skipping trusts, charitable trusts, and other charitable gift entities, gifts and sales to grantor trusts, GRATs and QPRTs, family partnerships, and other business entities. Her experience enables her to advise clients about the many issues affecting the administration and operation of their trusts, estates, partnerships, and other business entities, including the unique business succession planning issues and strategies for business owners.
Sheryl's practice also focuses on philanthropy planning through creating, qualification, and operation and administration of nonprofit and tax-exempt entities, as well as counseling higher education institutions and health care organizations about their charitable gift acquisition programs and administration practices.
Publications
- "The Family Business Owner's Top 5 Business Succession Plan Considerations," Minnesota Business online "Expert's Forum," September 14, 2009
- "Charitable Lead Annuity Trusts Present Good Planning Opportunities in Turbulent Economic Times," The Source (a quarterly publication of the Minnesota Planned Giving Council), May 2009
- “Sources of Trust Law,” author, Chapter 1; “Retirement Plan and Trusts,” author, Chapter 13; Minnesota Trust Administration, 2d ed. Minnesota State Bar Association, editor in chief, 2005; Updates 2006-2009
- “Investing In The Financial Aspects of Our Lives, With Equal Right,” Minnesota Women Lawyers, Summer 2005
- “Don't Let Your Business Succession Plan Turn into a Series of Unfortunate Events,” Women's Business Minnesota, June 2005
- “Creditors Claims,” Minnesota State Bar Association, contributing author, Chapter 3, Minnesota Estate Administration, 2d ed., January 2002
Presentations
- “Making Lemonade: Recipes for Charitable Planning in the Aftermath of the Great Recession,” copresenter, 36th Annual Probate & Trust Law Section Conference, June 8, 2010
- “Estate and Wealth Transfer Planning in 2010—Bringing Some Order to Chaos During a Year of Uncertainty,” panel member, Financial Planning Association of Minnesota, May 18, 2010
- "We're Not in Kansas Anymore: Handling Restricted Gifts, Charitable Trusts, and Estate Workouts in an Increasingly Litigious Environment," Gray Plant Mooty Charitable Gift Planning Breakfast Briefing, March 3, 2010
- "Planned Charitable Gifts that Thrive in a Recession," Association of Fundraising Professionals, November 10, 2009
- "CLATs, CGAs and Charitable Remainders: Planned Gifts that Thrive in the Recession," Minnesota Planned Giving Council Annual Convention, November 3-4, 2009
- “Charitable Income Tax Deduction: Advanced Issues,” American Law Institute-American Bar Association “Estate Planning in Depth” Course of Study, University of Wisconsin Law School, June 2009
- “The ABC’s of Charitable Planning: A Primer on Planned Giving Techniques,” 35th Annual Probate & Trust Law Section Conference, Minnesota State Bar Association, June 2009
- “Cows, Corn, and Cellos: Underused Assets in Planned Giving,” Gray Plant Mooty Higher Education Breakfast Briefing, April 14, 2009
- “When Economic Times are Bad: Charitable Planning Opportunities in Low Interest Rate Markets,” Gray Plant Mooty Presentation for Courage Center, January 2009
- “Navigating Uneven Waters When Considering Gifts of Special Assets,” Minnesota Planned Giving Council Annual Conference, November 2008
- “Sophisticated Trust Planning (including GRATs and CLATs) in a Low Interest Rate Environment,” ING Trust, October 22, 2008
- “Non-Grantor Charitable Lead Trusts,” St. Paul Foundation and Minnesota Foundation, September 23, 2008
- “Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts (GRATs) in a Low Interest Rate Environment,” ING Trust, July 2008
- “Charitable Planning with High Value Real Property and Other Timely Topics,” Minnesota Planned Giving Council Seminar, July 2008
- “Deductive Reasoning Under Section 2053 Proposed Regulations: Taking the Guesswork out of Deductible Claims Against the Estate?” and "7th Annual Large Estate Practitioner’s Panel," 34th Annual Probate & Trust Law Section Conference, Minnesota State Bar Association, June 2008
- “When Economic Times are Bad, Estate Planning is Good: Planning in Low Interest Rate Markets,” Gray Plant Mooty Estate Planning Seminar, May 2008
- “Probate by the Numbers,” Minnesota State Bar Association, December 2007
- “Tax Tips and Topics: Year-End Update for 2007 and 2008,” Gray Plant Mooty Estate Planning Seminar, October 2007
- “Legal Update: Charity Reforms and Other Developments,” Minnesota Association of Museums, October 2007
- “The ABC’s of Charitable Giving: Making Sense of Alphabet Soup When Charitable Gifts are Involved” and “6th Annual Large Estate Practitioner’s Panel,” 33rd Annual Probate & Trust Law Section Conference, Minnesota State Bar Association, June 2007
- “Probate by the Numbers,” Minnesota State Bar Association, December 2006
- “Drafting and Coordinating Retirement Plan Beneficiary Designations with Trusts” and “When Sominex® Doesn’t Work, Take One of These: Estate Practitioner’s Panel,” 32nd Annual Probate & Trust Law Section Conference, Minnesota State Bar Association, June 2006
- “Minnesota Trust Administration,” Minnesota State Bar Association, September 2005
- “Minnesota Trusts and Trust Alternatives” and “So What Do I Do Now: A Practitioners Panel,” 31st Annual Probate & Trust Law Section Conference, Minnesota State Bar Association, June 2005
- “Split Dollar: What’s Left in 2004 and Beyond" and “So What Do I Do Now: A Practitioners Panel,” 30th Annual Probate & Trust Law Section Conference, Minnesota State Bar Association, June 2004
- “Income Taxation for Estate Planners,” Minnesota State Bar Association, January 2004
- “Everything You Wanted to Know About Your Estate Planning Practice But Were Afraid to Ask—Hot Topics in Estate and Trusts Practice,” 29th Annual Probate & Trust Law Section Conference, Minnesota State Bar Association, June 2003
- “Generation Skipping Transfer Tax: New Developments and Strategies or Yes, We're Skipping, but Are We Having Any Fun?” and “Everything You Wanted to Know About Your Estate Planning Practice But Were Afraid to Ask,” 28th Annual Probate & Trust Law Section Conference, Minnesota State Bar Association, June 2002
- “Handling Creditors' Claims, Death and Taxes,” Minnesota State Bar Association, 2001-2002
- “How to Draft Wills & Plan Small Estates—Bridge the Gap,” Minnesota State Bar Association, 1998
- “Federal Tax Law Developments,” 23rd Annual Probate & Trust Law Section Conference, Minnesota State Bar Association, June 1997
- “A Practical Guide to Estate Administration in Minnesota,” National Business Institute, 1997
- “Probate for Attorneys and Legal Assistants,” Minnesota State Bar Association, 1995
- “Planning Opportunities with Living Trusts in Minnesota,” National Business Institute, 1992
Education
- University of Minnesota Law School, J.D., cum laude, 1988
ABA Moot Court, director, 1987-1988
Phi Kappa Phi, 1988 - University of Minnesota, B.A. in English literature and philosophy,
magna cum laude, 1985
Martin B. Ruud Scholarship, 1985
Professional Activities
- Minnesota Planned Giving Council, board member, 2010-2012
- Minnesota Community Foundation/The Saint Paul Foundation Cornerstone Council, 2010-2011
- Minnesota State Bar Association, Probate & Trust Law section, Legislation Committee, 2002-present, Governing Council, 2010-present
- Minnesota State Bar Association, 32nd-34th Annual Probate & Trust Law sections, Conference Planning Committee, 2006-present
- American Bar Association, 1988
- Minnesota State Bar Association, 1988
- Hennepin County Bar Association, 1988
- Minnesota Women Lawyers
Community Involvement
- Orono Alliance for Education, treasurer, 2002-2006, secretary, 2006-present
- Orono Girl Scout Leader, 2007-present
- Orono Fastpitch Softball, coach, 2005-2008
- Orono Thunder Soccer, coach, 2003-2009
- Plymouth City Council, member, 1994