Meredith M. Maller

Here’s why you’ll enjoy working with her.

Meredith is known for her thoughtful and compassionate client-centric approach.  She works closely with individuals and families to plan their legacy and guide them through the generational wealth planning process.  Meredith’s extensive background in finance, taxation, and creation of complex wealth transfer vehicles allows her to consider client asset allocation, risk management, and tax minimization in conjunction with her clients’ estate planning goals.

A seventh generation Mainer, whose family were some of the first settlers on Mount Desert Island, Meredith grew up aspiring to be a “family” attorney whom clients could rely upon in times of crisis and in success.  Meredith realized that dream at Bernstein Shur.

Meredith also enjoys and understands the critical value of educating the next generation in the handling and management of their family’s wealth and the importance of being a steward of such legacy. She has broad experience helping her clients navigate the unexpected and complex—from protecting non-traditional assets like yachts and private planes, to prenuptial agreements and the legal intricacies of charitable foundations.

With her breadth of expertise and perspective, Meredith brings calm, measured guidance to her clients.

But that’s not all. Meredith is also very experienced in:

• Crafting and implementing complex and comprehensive estate plans safeguarding generational wealth, including revocable trusts; wills; powers of attorney; advance healthcare directives; irrevocable life insurance trusts; spousal lifetime asset trusts; grantor retained annuity trusts; charitable trusts; and domestic asset protection trusts.
• Helping families to protect vacation homes and cottages for the use and enjoyment of multiple generations.
• Drafting and negotiating prenuptial and postnuptial marital agreements.
• Planning with non-traditional assets, such as art, cryptocurrency, intellectual property (such as copyrights, masters, and licensing agreements), boats/yachts, collectibles, and private planes.
• Counseling clients on and implementing devices for state and federal income and estate tax minimization.
• Drafting documents in support of clients’ domestic affairs, including private boat captains’ contracts, employment agreements for household staff, and non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements.
• Establishing and managing private foundations, nonprofit organizations, and other sophisticated charitable entities.

In her former life, Meredith was:

• Senior Counsel in Eaton Peabody’s Estate Planning and Wealth Transfer Practice Group
• Estate Planning Strategist with Mercer Advisors
• Associate Strategic Advisor with Brown Advisory
• Registered Lobbyist for the United Parcel Service (UPS) with a focus on International Trade

When Meredith isn’t working, she can be found…

Hiking and sailing in Acadia National Park, smoking brisket, learning to play pickleball, and working on needlepoint projects.

Publications

“What Rob Gronkowski Can Teach Us About Estate Planning: Nonfungible Tokens and the Future of Wealth Planning,” before the Maine State Bar Association, Summer Conference, June 25, 2021

“Maine Probate Process and Procedure,” before the Maine State Bar Association, Bridging the Gap Continuing Legal Education, December 11, 2019, May 13, 2021, and February 4, 2022

“Preserving the Family Camp, Cottage, or Lake House,” Means Investments, July 27, 2020