Richard F. Lert

Richard F. Lert is chair of the Trusts & Estates Team at Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer, P.A. He is a member of the American Bar Association, the New Jersey State Bar Association (NJSBA), where he is past chair of the Real Property, Probate & Trust Law Section, and the Middlesex County Bar Association, where he organized and served as the first chair of its Probate Law Committee.  Mr. Lert is an academician of the International Academy of Estate and Trust Law.  He is a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and served as New Jersey State chair from 1991-1996.  He has also served as a speaker for the Institute for Continuing Legal Education of New Jersey and the NJSBA.

Mr. Lert participated on behalf of the NJSBA, appearing before committees of both houses of the New Jersey Legislature, to bring about the enactment of Probate Reform legislation in 1978.  He headed a NJSBA committee, which participated in the first significant revision of the New Jersey Court Rules governing probate practice since the court reorganization under the 1947 New Jersey Constitution, appearing before the New Jersey Supreme Court on behalf of the NJSBA. He worked on behalf of the NJSBA in support of "Living Will" and Durable Power of Attorney legislation. He was Chair of a committee reviewing the Uniform Trust Code for adoption in New Jersey. The Trust Code was enacted in 2015. Mr. Lert believes that minimum involvement of lawyers and the courts in the process of administering estates is in the public interest, but that lawyers are needed and can be most effective when serious disputes among families or with taxing authorities arise.