Kristen M. Lewis counsels and guides clients through the complex Special Needs Estate Planning process.  Kristen works with a family to create a customized network of Special Needs Trusts as the foundation of a comprehensive plan to secure the current and future wellbeing of a family’s loved one challenged by a disability.  She helps a family to assemble their team of “allied professionals” who help to design and implement their loved one’s comprehensive plan.  Since many beneficial services and programs for their loved one are not available on a private pay basis, Kristen facilitates the family’s access to such critical supports by guiding the team to establish and maintain the loved one’s eligibility for various government programs, both means-tested and employment-linked.  Kristen also counsels professional and family trustees regarding the myriad pitfalls encountered in the administration of Special Needs Trusts.  She regularly advises families regarding multi-generational Special Needs Estate Planning, often working as co-counsel with their existing team of advisors to remediate existing trusts that are incompatible with the plan that a family wishes to implement for the benefit of their loved ones with disabilities.

Nationally recognized for her work in the Special Needs Planning area, Kristen is a frequent speaker and author on the topic. She is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) and an active member of the Special Needs Alliance, serving as co-editor of the organization’s monthly e-newsletter, The Voice. She is a faculty member for the annual American Bankers Association Advanced Trust and Wealth School, and she also regularly presents workshops on Special Needs Planning for parents and allied professionals.

In addition to her legal practice, Kristen is also active in the community. She has served on the boards of The Bobby Dodd Institute, the  Center for the Visually Impaired, Cumberland Academy of Georgia (a private school for children with autism),  Eagle Ranch (a non-profit that works to unify broken families), Wesley Woods Senior Living (which provides affordable housing for seniors of limited means), and Better Living Together, Inc. (which seeks to provide affordable housing for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities and others of modest means).

In her vast amounts of free time, Kristen volunteers for Canine Assistants, a non-profit which raises and trains certified service dogs for recipients with disabilities, where she and her husband have Puppy Nursery Duty every Saturday night.