Elizabeth Horsley focuses her practice on estate and trust administration and planning. She assists corporate and private clients with administration of estates and trusts, and she advises individuals concerning the preparation of estate plans. She also represents clients in contested estate and trust matters.
Elizabeth has handled a variety of fiduciary litigation involving trust and estate administration. She has brought suits to probate wills and to judicially modify or terminate trusts, and she has served as an expert witness regarding the reasonableness of attorney’s fees in estate litigation. She also has experience with conservator and guardianship matters.
PRACTICE AREAS
Estate Planning
Trust and Estate Administration
Trust and Estate Litigation
ADMISSIONS
• Virginia
• Supreme Court of Virginia
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
• U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia
• U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
• U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Virginia
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
CLERKSHIP
• Hon. Richard B. Kellam, U.S. District Judge, Eastern District of Virginia, 1994-1995
Recent estate planning and administration matters include:
• Drafting wills, trusts, powers of attorneys and advance medical directives.
• Modifying existing estate plans to address changing family dynamics.
• Attending probate proceedings and handling administration, including preparation of inventories, accountings, and show cause for distribution of an estate.
Examples of Ms. Horsley’s routine fiduciary proceedings include:
• Substitution of trustee
• Suits to impeach wills, establish a lost will, and determine heirs
• Suits for aid and direction, and for accountings of trusts and estates
• Suits alleging undue influence and lack of capacity
• Breach of fiduciary duty claims
• Construction suits to resolve ambiguities
• Petitions for termination of trusts
• Unitrust conversions and equitable adjustments
Washington & Lee University, J.D., 1994
Sweet Briar College, A.B., Government, International Affairs, 1990
Summa Cum Laude
Phi Beta Kappa
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
Virginia State Bar
• Trusts and Estates Section
• Litigation Section
Virginia Bar Association
• Wills, Trusts & Estates Section, Council, 2019-2021; Legislative Committee, 2016-present
The Bar Association of the City of Richmond
• Member, 2022-present
Richmond Trust Administrators Council of Richmond
• Member, 2010-present; President, 2014-2015
Estate Planning Council of Richmond
• Member, 2010-2016
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
Virginia Horse Center Foundation
• 2017-present; Secretary, 2021-present
University of Georgia Parents Leadership Council
• Grants Committee, 2021-present
Commonwealth Parenting Center
• Board of Directors, 2007-2012; President, 2010-2012
Martindale-Hubbell
• AV Preeminent® Peer Review Rated
The Best Lawyers in America©
• Trusts and Estates, 2013-2017
Virginia Super Lawyers
• Estate and Trust Litigation, 2013-2015
SELECT PUBLICATIONS
• Turn 529 Account Funds into Retirement Savings, 2023
• First Quarter Planning for 2023, 2023
• Workers and Retirees Take Note: The SECURE Act’s Revised Rules on Retirement Plans Impact Popular IRAs, 2022
SELECT PRESENTATIONS
• Co-presenter, “Ascertainable Standard: Is it Really?” Advanced Estate Planning and Administration Seminar, Virginia CLE, 2016
• Presenter, “Evolution of Virginia’s UTC,” Advanced Estate Planning and Administration Seminar, Virginia CLE, 2014
• Presenter, “Uniform Trust Code: An Update,” Lorman, 2013