Susan R. Harris, Esq.
Susan R. Harris is a Denver native. She has over 25 years of experience in the areas of probate, trusts and estates, and estate, gift and generation-skipping taxation. Among her specialties is advising personal representatives, trustees, conservators and other fiduciaries on their responsibilities to beneficiaries.
She received her B.A. summa cum laude and J.D from the University of Denver, where she was the managing editor of the Denver Law Journal.
Susan has been a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) since 1994. At the University of Denver Sturm College of Law she has been Adjunct Lecturer in Trusts and Estates, as well as a supervisor of the Law Wills Lab and a professional law student mentor. She also teaches Wills and Probate at the Community College of Aurora’s ABA approved paralegal certification program. She is a member of the Trust and Estate Section of the Colorado and American Bar Associations and has served on the Board of Governors and the Estate and Trust Council of the Colorado Bar Association. Susan has lectured on topics relating to estate and trust planning and administration and has authored a number of articles on probate and estate planning issues.
Susan R. Harris has been named as a Super Lawyer from 2006 through 2016 by 5280 Magazine in its annual lawyer review issue. She has an AV Martindale-Hubbel rating.
Current Practice
Susan’s practice includes extensive experience in all aspects of estate and trust planning and administration, conservatorships, guardianships, and related taxation, including gift, estate, generation skipping and fiduciary income taxation.
Estate planning experience includes drafting of wills, trusts, limited liability companies, limited partnerships, irrevocable trusts, grantor trusts, charitable trusts, and gift annuities; charitable giving; life insurance planning and preparation of marital agreements.
Estate administration experience include probate proceedings, will contests and other estate and trust litigation; construction and interpretation of ambiguous wills and trusts; estate tax return preparation, proceedings and audits; business and asset sales; post mortem planning and disclaimers; and advising fiduciaries.
Publications in the Estate Planning/Administration Field
- Contributing author or co-author, Colorado Estate Planning, CLE of Colorado, 1998 and forward; Fiduciaries, Tax Allocations, Generation Skipping Taxation, and Advanced Estate Planning Techniques Chapters
- Editor, Trusts and Estates Section Newsletter, 1990 – 1993
- Orange Book Committee, Colorado Bar Association Probate Section; revision of Colorado estate planning forms
- The Widow’s Handbook, Chapter Five, Fulcrum, Inc. 1998
- “What Every Family Lawyer Should Know About Probate Law,” series of twelve articles, Fairshare, 1986 – 1987
- “The Final Gamble: Ancillary Administration Proceedings Under the Uniform Probate Code and in Non-UPC Jurisdiction,” 6 Probate L.J. 211 (1985)
- “Decedents’ Creditors and Nonprobate Assets,” 15 Colo. L. 2190 (Dec. 1986)
- “Income in Respect of a Decedent,” 15 Colo. L. 388 (March 1986)
- “Dangers of Incorporating Nonprofit Corporations,” 13 Colo. L. 765 (1984)
- “Pursuing a Breaching Trustee’s Co-Conspirators,” 36 Colo. L. 79 (2007)
- “Are Surviving Spouses Liable for a Decedent’s Debts?” Trusts and Estates Section Council Notes, Fall 2007