Lisa M. Rico

Lisa M. Rico is a founding partner at Rico, Murphy, Diamond & Bean LLP, focusing on sophisticated estate planning, estate administration and tax law. Lisa focuses on transferring wealth to the next generation in a tax efficient manner without losing sight of the individual’s or family’s goals. Her practice includes estate, gift, generation-skipping transfer and income tax planning for high net worth individuals, estate and trust administration, as well as the representation of nonprofit organizations and charitable trusts. In addition, she provides tax advice to partnerships and other pass-through entities.

Lisa is Vice Chair of the Massachusetts Bar Association’s Probate Law Section Council and is the past Chair of the Massachusetts Bar Association’s Taxation Law Section Council.  She is also past Chair of the Business Planning Group of the American Bar Association’s Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Section. 

Lisa has been a featured speaker on estate planning and tax at numerous seminars, including for the American Bar Association, Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, Massachusetts Bar Association, and ALI-ABA. She has published articles on a wide variety estate planning issues, including wills and trusts, estate and gift taxes, portability, probate, family limited partnerships, estate liquidity and the generation skipping transfer tax.

Representative Experience

She has extensive experience in all aspects of estate planning, including the following:

• Marital deduction planning, for citizens and non-citizens, including portability planning
• Generation-skipping transfer trusts
• Spousal lifetime access trusts (SLATs)
• Grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs)
• Family LLCs (limited liability companies) and family limited partnerships
• Qualified Personal Residence Trusts (QPRTs)
• Installment sales to grantor trusts
• Intra-family loans
• Life insurance trusts
• Asset protection trusts
• Supplemental Needs Trusts
• Pre-immigration planning
• Charitable remainder trusts
• Charitable gift annuities
• Charitable foundations

Recognition

Martindale-Hubbell AV® Rated, a certification mark indicating that the lawyer’s peers rank her at the highest level of professional excellence.

Accredited Estate Planner® (AEP)® Designation from the National Association of Estate Planners & Councils.

Professional and Community Involvement

American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, Fellow

• State Laws Committee member
• Business Planning Committee member
• Family Law Task Force member

American Bar Association, Member

• Business Planning Group of the ABA’s Real Property Trust and Estate Law Section
  • Chair, 2013-2015
  • Co-Vice Chair, 2011-2013
• Real Property Trust and Estate Law Section, CLE Committee member, 2012-2015
• Real Property Trust and Estate Law Section, Committee on Substantive Groups and Committees member, 2012-2018
• Estate Planning and Administration for Business Owners, Farmers and Ranchers Committee of Business Planning Group of the American Bar Association’s Real Property Trust and Estate Law Section
  • Co-Chair, 2010-2011
  • Co-Vice Chair, 2009-2010

Massachusetts Bar Association, Member

• Massachusetts Bar Association Taxation Law Section Council
  • Chair, 2010-2012
  • Co-Chair, 2009-2010
  • Member, 2006-2015
• Massachusetts Bar Association Probate Law Section Council
  • Member, 2012-2015

Boston Estate Planning Council, Member

• Programs Committee Chair , 2013-2014, 2017-2018
• Women’s Initiative Committee, 2012-2013

Bar Admissions

• Massachusetts
• Connecticut
• New York
• Maryland

Speaking Engagements

“Massachusetts Estate Tax Return Preparation”, Panel Member, Massachusetts Bar Association, December 4, 2018.

“When Estate Planning & Divorce Collide”, Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, Panel Member, September 27, 2018.

“Marital Deduction Planning”, Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, Estate Planning – MCLE Basics Plus, Panel Member, September 30, 2016, September 14, 2017, and September 6, 2018.

“Irrevocable Trusts: An In-Depth Review”, Panel Member, Massachusetts Bar Association, June13, 2018

“Estate Planning 101: Trust Basics”, Panel Member, Massachusetts Bar Association, September 19, 2017

“Marital Trust with QTIP Trusts”, Panel Member, Fourth Annual Probate Law Conference, Massachusetts Bar Association, November 18, 2016.

“Marital Trust Formulas and Portability”, Panel Member, Third Annual Probate Law Conference, Massachusetts Bar Association, November 13, 2015.

“Marital Planning for Beginners”, Panel Member, Second Annual Probate Law Conference, Massachusetts Bar Association, November 14, 2014.

“Basic Estate Planning for Married Couples”, Panel Member, First Annual Probate Law Conference, Massachusetts Bar Association, November 15, 2013.

“Beyond IRC Section 6166: the Future of Graegin-Style Loans “, ABA Section of Real Property, Trust & Estate Law/Section of Taxation Fall Joint Meeting, Panel Member, September 19, 2013.

“Lifetime Gift Planning in 2012”, Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, Panel Member, June 21, 2012.

“Tax Issues Related to Real Estate”, MBA Taxation Section Roundtable, Panel Member, June 21, 2012.

“MUPC Basics An Overview of the New Massachusetts Uniform Probate Code”, Panel Member, Massachusetts Bar Association, January 5 and April 27, 2012.

“MUPC Demystified Part V: Estate Planning under the MUPC Drafting Wills and Trusts”, Panel Member, Massachusetts Bar Association, February 7, 2012.

“State Decoupling in Business Succession Planning”, ABA Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law/Section of Taxation Fall Joint Meeting, Panel Member, October 21, 2011.

“Solving Liquidity Issues in Estate Administration, NBI Teleconference, September 22, 2011.

“The Basics of Developing an Estate Plan”, Panel Member, Massachusetts Bar Association, July 28, 2011.

“Tax Implications in Real Estate Transactions”, Panel Member, Massachusetts Bar Association, May 19, 2011.

“The Use of Formula Allocation Clauses for Gifts and Sales of Closely Held Business Interests in 2011 “, ABA Section of Real Property, Trusts & Estates Law Spring Symposium, Trusts & Estates, Panel Member, April 28, 2011.

“A Trust Series You Can Trust: A Comprehensive Guide to Trust Practice – Types of Trusts”, Panel Member, Massachusetts Bar Association, March 29, 2011.

“A Trust Series You Can Trust: A Comprehensive Guide to Trust Practice – How to Establish a Trust”, Panel Member, Massachusetts Bar Association, March 1, 2011.

“What Every Practitioner Needs to Know About the New Tax Act”, Program Chair, Massachusetts Bar Association, February 16, 2011.

“Primer on Tax Aspects and Mechanics of Entity Conversions”, ABA Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law/Section of Taxation Fall Joint Meeting, Panel Member, September 24, 2010.

“The Probate Process From Start to Finish”, ALI-ABA, July 21, 2010.

“Finding the Money: Options in the Face of Illiquidity”, as part of American Law Institute American Bar Association Continuing Professional Education’s “Representing Estate and Trust Beneficiaries and Fiduciaries”, July 16, 2010.

“The Lifecycle of a Family Business Owner: Birth, Midlife Crisis, Death and Beyond! The Final Years: liquidity issues at and after death-or, ‘the tax man cometh’ “, ABA Section of Real Property, Trusts & Estates Law Spring Symposium, Trusts & Estates, Panel Member, May 6, 2010.

“Income and Gift Tax Aspects of Estate Planning with LLCs”, as part of Massachusetts Bar Association’s “Planning with LLCs”, April 29, 2010.

“Federal Transfer Tax Developments for the General Practitioner”, Massachusetts Bar Association Annual Conference 2010, March 11, 2010.

“Massachusetts Uniform Probate Code and Prenuptial Agreements”, Boston Bar Association, November, 2009.

“Estate Planning, Probate and Tax Strategies”, Greater Boston, December, 2009, Business Professional’s Networking Group.

“Section 754—Making the Election or Not” and “Survey of Tax Developments of Importance to Closely-Held Businesses”, ABA Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law/Section of Taxation Fall Joint Meeting, September 25, 2009.

“Planning for Liquidity in Estates Holding Closely-Held Business Interests: Loans”, ABA Section of Real Property, Trusts & Estate Law Spring Symposium, Trusts & Estates, Panel Member, April 2009.

“Estate Planning and Wealth Transfer Strategies in this Tumultuous Time: What Should we be Doing Now?”, McCarter & English, LLP, Panel Member, November, 2008.

Publications

“Basic Strategies to Preserve and Protect the Family Business”, A Practical Guide to Estate Planning in Massachusetts, Chapter 10, 3rd ed., 1st Supplement (2013), Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, co-author.

“Irrevocable Trusts Holding S Corporation Stock”, Drafting Irrevocable Trusts in Massachusetts, Chapter 14, 1st ed., 2nd Supplement (2013), Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, co-author.

“Get Ready for the 3.8% Tax on Net Investment Income”, Probate & Property (July/August 2013), co-author.

“Estate Planning with Portability in Decoupled States” Probate & Property (May/June 2013).

“Estate Planning with Portability: What You Need to Know”, SumNews,Vol. 23 No. 4, Summer II 2012.

“Borrowing for Postmortem Liquidity, Part 1”, Probate & Property (November/December 2010).

“Borrowing For Postmortem Liquidity, Part 2 – A Primer On IRC § 6166”, Probate & Property (January/February 2011).

“Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010”, Massachusetts Lawyers Journal, Vol. 18 No. 8, April 2011.

“End of the Estate Tax Looms”, Massachusetts Lawyers Journal, Vol. 18 No. 4, December 2010.

“Gifts of Partnership or LLC Interests: Annual Exclusion Gifts?”, Taxation Law Section, Massachusetts Bar Association, Section Review, Vol. 12, No. 3, 2010.

“Planning for Liquidity in Estates Holding Closely-Held Business Interests-Loans”, October, 2009 Update to Estate and Personal Financial Planning by Edward F. Koren and published by Thompson West.

“The Knight Decision: The ‘2 Percent Floor’ Applies to Trust”, Taxation Law Section, Massachusetts Bar Association, Section Review, Vol. 10, No. 2, 2008.

“The New Tax Return Preparer’s Standards”, Taxation Law Section, Massachusetts Bar Association, Section Review, Vol. 10, No. 1, Author, 2008.

Education

New York University School Of Law, New York, New York
LL.M. in Taxation, May 1994

Western New England University School Of Law, Springfield, Massachusetts
Juris Doctor, cum laude, May 1991
Class Rank: Top 10%
Western New England Law Review: member 1989-1990

Western New England University, Springfield, Massachusetts
Bachelor of Arts in Government, magna cum laude, May 1987