Practices

David E. Stutzman is a partner in the Private Clients/Trusts and Estates Group at Seward & Kissel LLP.  For over 30 years, David has specialized in complex estate, trust and charitable planning and administration for high-net-worth individuals and families.

David’s clients range from hedge fund and private equity fund managers, executives and professionals, and family business and real estate owners, to art collectors, artists, musicians, sports figures, and inheritors.  He guides his clients through the estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax laws that impact them, their families and their estate and wealth transfer planning goals using sophisticated estate planning techniques such as grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs), transfers and installment sales to multigenerational (or GST exempt) trusts, limited liability companies and partnerships.  David provides customized advice in setting up wills, revocable trusts, insurance and other irrevocable trusts, and related estate planning documentation, and counsels his philanthropic clients in creating and administering charitable split-interest trusts, and private grant-making and operating foundations.  Additionally, he counsels his clients on pre-marital and post-marital planning.  He advises foreign and domestic clients on the interplay of U.S. and foreign transfer taxes for individuals and families with interests in multiple jurisdictions, including Canada and Europe.

David has extensive experience representing his clients in IRS and state estate and gift tax audits and in New York Surrogate’s Court and Connecticut Probate Court proceedings.

David is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) and serves on its Estate and Gift Taxation Committee.  From 2019 to 2022, he was Chair of the Estate and Gift Taxation Committee of the New York City Bar Association.  He remains an affiliate member of that committee and is an affiliate member of the Art Law Committee of the New York City Bar Association.

David is co-author of the Bloomberg BNA Tax Management Portfolio, “Planning for Authors, Musicians, Artists, and Collectors,” No. 815-3rd (Estate Planning Series), an interdisciplinary guide to representing creators and collectors; and he continues to update the Portfolio as the law develops.  He received Bloomberg Tax’s 2018 Outstanding Portfolio Author of the Year Award for outstanding authorship in estates, gifts and trusts, in recognition of his co-authorship of the Portfolio.  David has been a frequent speaker and writer (and has podcasted) on various topics in his practice area, both at ACTEC and at the New York City Bar Association.

David serves as a member of STEP (a U.K.-founded international network of experts in family inheritance and succession planning), the Trusts & Estates Law Section of the New York State Bar Association (where he serves on its Taxation Committee), the Estate Planning Council of New York City, and the Real Property, Probate & Trusts Law Section of the American Bar Association.

David received his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law and his B.A. (with distinction) from the University of Virginia.  He is admitted to practice in New York State, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, and the United States Tax Court.  David has earned Martindale-Hubbell’s highest rating – AV Preeminent – recognizing the highest level of professional excellence, and for many years has been recognized in the areas of Estate Planning and Probate in New York Super Lawyers.

David is a Trustee of the Preservation League of New York State, and serves as Chair of its Investment Committee.  He is also a Member of the Board of Directors of The Historic House Trust of New York City, and serves on its Acquisitions and Development Committees.  Finally, he is a longstanding member of the Professional Advisory Council of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.  For several years he served on the Board of Trustees of The HealthCare Chaplaincy.

Publications