Claudio A. De Vellis

Claudio A. De Vellis is a Partner in the Estate Planning and Wealth Protection Practice of Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP.

Mr. De Vellis concentrates his practice on estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer tax planning for individuals, closely held business owners and charitable organizations. Mr. De Vellis advises individuals and families on wealth preservation issues, including all aspects of estate, and gift and generation-skipping transfer tax planning, structuring tax-efficient business succession plans, creating qualified and non-qualified retirement plans and implementing asset protection strategies. His practice includes all aspects of estate planning, from drafting wills and trusts, to forming business entities, to counseling clients on the income, estate and gift tax treatment of charitable giving. Mr. De Vellis also advises individual and corporate fiduciaries in connection with the administration of estates and trusts and represents clients in disputes arising out of the administration of estates and trusts.

Mr. De Vellis provides a wide range of business and tax planning services to closely held business owners. He represents and assists clients in forming corporations, partnerships, limited liability companies, and captive insurance companies; drafts shareholder, employment and consulting agreements; represents clients in the purchase and sale of business interests and structures business succession plans to provide for the orderly disposition of family owned businesses.

Mr. De Vellis has lectured on a range of topics on estate and gift tax planning for the following organizations: New York State Bar Association; American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists; American Educational Institute, Inc.; National Business Institute; Queens County Bar Association; Nassau County Chapter of the New York State Society of CPAs. He co-authored “Estate Planning with Real Estate Assets,” which appeared in the September 2005 issue of the Tax Management Real Estate Journal.

Mr. De Vellis is also a Certified Public Accountant. Prior to becoming an attorney, Mr. De Vellis practiced with a New York City accounting firm for seven years. He has extensive experience preparing and analyzing business financial statements; preparing individual, corporate and partnership income tax returns; preparing estate and gift tax returns and preparing fiduciary accountings and fiduciary income tax returns. Mr. De Vellis has also represented individual and corporate clients before the Internal Revenue Service and the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance on various tax matters.

Mr. De Vellis received a BBA from Hofstra University and a J.D. from Brooklyn Law School. He is admitted to practice law in New York and is a member of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, the New York State Bar Association and the Nassau County Bar Association. He is also a member of the Tax and Personal Financial Planning Sections of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.