Amanda focuses her practice on estate planning, special needs planning, guardianships and trust & estate administration. She also advises trustees of special needs trusts on legal and practical aspects of trust administration.  She enjoys working closely with clients to build a relationship of trust and address their concerns for the future.  As the sister of a young woman with intellectual disabilities Amanda is especially sensitive to the needs and concerns of clients pursuing special needs planning.  In addition to meeting clients in the office she regularly represents clients before various probate courts throughout Rhode Island. She is a 2021 and 2022 honoree of Rhode Island Monthly’s Professional Excellence in Law Award for Wills, Trusts & Estates.

Amanda is a current member of the Rhode Island Probate and Trust Committee, Estate Planning Council of Rhode Island and the Academy of Special Needs Planners. She is a past member of the Rhode Island Foundation Professional Advisory Council. In addition to her professional affiliations Amanda gives presentations across the state to groups on topics ranging from a broad overview of estate planning to special needs planning for families who have a child with a disability.   Amanda is admitted to practice in both state and federal courts in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

Amanda received her B.A. magna cum laude from Goucher College and graduated magna cum laude from the New England School of Law in 2009.  While in law school she served as an Editor of the New England Law Review.  During her third year, Amanda spent a semester as a law clerk for the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands for the Honorable Judge Ekaterina Trendafilova.  Amanda also had the privilege of serving as a summer clerk at the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court for the Honorable Justice Robert Cordy.

Presentations

Navigating Tax Challenges of ABLE Accounts and Special Needs Trusts, Co-Presenter, Strafford Webinar, September 2021

ABLE Accounts & Special Needs Trusts: What Estate Planners and Plaintiffs’ Attorneys Need to Know, Co-Presenter, Rhode Island Bar Association Annual Meeting, June 2020

Publications

Planning for Incapacity – Special Needs and Guardianship in “A Practical Guide to Estate Planning in Rhode Island 1st Edition Supplement,”  Co-Author, Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, Inc., 2017

ABLE Accounts: A New Tool for Clients Receiving Means-Tested Benefits, Co-Author in Rhode Island Bar Journal, September/October 2017.

Firm Description

Tarzwell & Trubiano Law, LLC is a small, family-run practice concentrating in the areas of estate planning with a particular emphasis on families with children with special needs. Having a family member with special needs, we are acutely familiar with the challenges associated in this area.

Hours

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