Richard B. Covey to receive first ABA Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Award
The American Bar Association Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate has established the Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Award to recognize outstanding achievement, scholarship and volunteer leadership in the fields of Real Property and/or Trust and Estate law. The award will be presented annually at the Spring Symposia, held this year April 30-May 1 at the Capital Hilton in Washington, D.C.
The first recipient of the award is Richard B. Covey, senior counsel with the New York City law firm of Carter, Ledyard & Milburn. Mr. Covey received his A.B. from Harvard College and his J.D. from Columbia University Law School, and also received an honorary doctor of laws degree from the University of Miami. Among other notable achievements, Mr. Covey was the creator of a tax strategy in 1984 called a “GRIT” or grantor retained income trust which was so popular that Congress closed the loophole in 1990. Gideon Rothschild, the Section’s Chair, stated that bestowing Dick with our first annual award is most fitting given that thousands of estate planners still utilize some of his most creative strategies to this day.”
He has been a frequent speaker at continuing legal education programs and tax institutes on estate planning and trust and estate matters for over 50 years. Mr. Covey has published two books, “Marital Deduction and Credit Shelter Dispositions and the Use of Formula Provisions” and “Generation-Skipping Transfers in Trust” which books have been cited as some of the most scholarly works in the subject area and is the editor of Practical Drafting®, a quarterly publication on estate planning and drafting wills and trusts. For more than 25 years, Mr. Covey acted as special tax counsel to the Trust Division of the American Bankers Association. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel.