Mihailov, Ivan I.

Ms. Merritt graduated with honors in 1987 from the University of Texas at Arlington with a bachelor's degree in business administration and accounting. She received her law degree from the University of Texas School of Law in 1991 and is also a C.P.A. Prior to entering law school, she worked in the tax department of Ernst & Whinney in Fort Worth, Texas. She joined Caplan and Earnest LLC in 1999.

Her practice focuses on estate planning, probate, non-profit organizations, tax and corporate law with over 12 years of experience in these areas. Her practice includes developing and implementing estate plans for medium and large estates including drafting tax planning wills, revocable trusts, family limited partnerships, charitable remainder and lead trusts in addition to other sophisticated estate planning techniques; administering estates; preparing federal and state inheritance tax returns; advising on tax issues relating to business and tax-exempt entities; formation of business entities (profit and non-profit); and sales and purchases of businesses.

Ms. Merritt is active in the community as well as the legal profession. She is an active member of the statutory revisions committee of the trust and estate section of the Colorado Bar Association. She is currently serving as a member of the legal advisory committee for The Community Foundation Serving Boulder County and served as treasurer (1998) and secretary (2001) of the Parenting Place of Boulder County.

She served as co-chair of the taxation, estate planning & probate section of the Boulder County Bar Association (2001-2002) and as the chair of the programs committee of the Colorado Women's Bar Association (1998-1999 fiscal year). Ms. Merritt authored Reforming Charitable Remainder Trusts in Colorado Under the New IRS Procedures; an article published in the September 1999 issue of The Colorado Lawyer, Planning for Community Property in Colorado; an article published in the June 2002 issue of The Colorado Lawyer and has lectured on various estate planning topics. Ms. Merritt is admitted to practice in Colorado and Texas.