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Kristin L. Brown

Kristin L. Brown

Member

Kristin L. Brown is a member at Davis Stephenson, PLLC. She focuses her practice on estate planning for high net worth individuals and multi-generational families. She advises clients with regard to preparing complex estate planning documents, transfer tax and charitable planning, marital property issues, and probate matters. She also has experience with estate administration, real estate transactions, the creation and administration of business entities, and fiduciary litigation. Prior to joining Davis Stephenson, Kristin spent several years practicing in the areas of estate planning and commercial litigation in the Dallas area.

Education & Accreditations

  • Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law (2010), J.D., cum laude
    • International Law Review Association
      • Editor-in-Chief 2009-2010, Law and Business Review of the Americas
      • Staff Editor 2008-2009
    • Phi Delta Phi Legal Honor Fraternity
    • Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot Court Team
  • University of Notre Dame (2007), B.S. in Biological Sciences and Spanish
  • State Bar of Texas
  • State Bar of Texas Board Certified in Estate Planning and Probate Law, Texas Board of Legal Specialization
  • Admitted to practice before the United States District Court Northern District of Texas and Eastern District of Texas

Honors & Awards

  • Selected as a “Texas Rising Star” as compiled by Thomson Reuters, Inc. and published in Texas Monthly Magazine (2019-present)

Professional Memberships & Designations

  • American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, Fellow
  • State Bar of Texas Tax Section, Member
  • State Bar of Texas Real Estate, Probate, and Trust Law Section, Member
    • Member, Planning Committee of the Advanced Estate Planning & Probate Course (2023)
    • Course Director, Intermediate Estate Planning & Probate Course (2022)
    • Member, Planning Committee of the Estate Planning & Probate Drafting Course (2022)
    • Member, Planning Committee of the Handling Your First (or Next) Trust Course (2019, 2023)
    • Member, Planning Committee of the Intermediate Estate Planning & Probate Course (2018, 2020, 2021)
    • Trusts Committee, Member (2018-2019)
    • 2016-2017 REPTL Leadership Academy, Inaugural Class Graduate
  • Dallas Bar Association, Member
    • Probate, Trusts, and Estates Section, Member
    • Tax Section, Member
  • The Dallas Probate American Inn of Court, Inaugural Member and Barrister
  • Dallas Estate Planning Council, Member
    • Board of Governors, Member (2017-2019)
    • Emerging Professionals Initiative Committee, Member (2017-2019)
  • Southwest Community Foundation Professional Advisory Council, Member
  • Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy at Communities Foundation of Texas, 2018-2019 Cohort

Publications & Speeches

  • “Marital Deduction Planning and Portability,” The Center for American and International Law Annual Short Course on Estate Planning, Plano, Texas, 2020-2023
  • “Botched: Repairing the Damage When Tax Planning Goes Wrong,” State Bar of Texas 46th Annual Advanced Estate Planning & Probate Course, June 16, 2022
  • Filing Gift Tax Returns With 2020 Vision, 14 Est. Plan. & Cmty. Prop. L.J. 2, Spring, 2022
  • “When is a Gift Tax Return Required?,” Dallas Bar Association Headnotes, Volume 46, Number 12, December 2021
  • “Filing Gift Tax Returns with 2020 Vision,” State Bar of Texas 45th Annual Advanced Estate Planning & Probate Course, June 10, 2021
  • First Comes Love, Then Comes the Marital Deduction, 13 Est. Plan. & Cmty. Prop. L.J. 1, Fall, 2020
  • “First Comes Love, Then Comes the Marital Deduction,” State Bar of Texas 44th Annual Advanced Estate Planning & Probate Course, Houston, Texas, June 4, 2020
  • “Roses are Red, My ILIT Makes Me Blue: Replanting an Insurance Policy,” State Bar of Texas 30th Annual Estate Planning & Probate Drafting Course, Houston, Texas, October 24, 2019
  • “Roses are Red, My ILIT Makes Me Blue: Replanting an Insurance Policy,” Texas Bankers Association Trust, Estate & Portfolio Management Forum, Dallas, Texas, October 18, 2019
  • “Tips on How to Prepare for the TBLS Estate Planning & Probate Exam,” State Bar of Texas 43rd Annual Advanced Estate Planning & Probate Course, San Antonio, Texas, June 19, 2019
  • “Portability for the Tax Averse Attorney,” State Bar of Texas Intermediate Estate Planning & Probate Course, San Antonio, Texas, June 17, 2019
  • “Where We’re Going, We Don’t Need Codes: Non-Tax Reasons to Create Trusts,” State Bar of Texas Handling Your First (or Next) Trust, Austin, Texas, February 1, 2019
  • “Where We’re Going, We Don’t Need Codes: Non-Tax Driven Trust Planning,” Texas Society of CPAs Advanced Estate Planning Conference, San Antonio, Texas, August 16, 2018
  • “Divorce-Proofing the Estate Plan,” Texas Bar College 20th Annual Summer School, Galveston, Texas, July 20, 2018
  • “The Effect of Divorce on an Estate Plan: How the Estates Code Saves and Strands Divorcees,” State Bar of Texas Intermediate Estate Planning & Probate Course, Dallas, Texas, June 12, 2018
  • “Making Plans: Do I Really Need a Revocable Trust?,” Texas Bar Journal, Volume 80, Number 8, September 2017
  • “Practical CYA Advice,” State Bar of Texas Intermediate Estate Planning & Probate Course, Houston, Texas, June 6, 2017
  • “Do I Really Need a Revocable Trust?,” Dallas Bar Association Headnotes, Volume 41, Number 12, December 2016
  • Venezuela Joins Mercosur: The Impact Felt Around the Americas,” 6 Law & Bus. Rev. Am. 85, Winter, 2010

Community Service & Personal Interests

  • Junior League of Dallas, Active Member
  • Dallas Museum of Art Junior Associates
  • Enjoys traveling, hiking, art history, cooking, and Notre Dame football