Barbara A Simanek is a partner at K&L Gates LLP. She is a partner in the firm's private client, trusts and estates practice area with a focus on estate and trust law. Ms. Simanek currently serves as the practice group coordinator for the private clients, Trusts and Estates practice group, with members spread across the globe. She handles all aspects of estate planning and settlement, including the interaction between employee benefits and an individual's estate. Ms. Simanek counsels clients on tax planning, business succession planning, and elder law issues, and administers large estates. One aspect of her practice includes analyzing the impact of, and implementing, estate planning strategies such as QPRTs, GRATs, multigenerational trusts, disclaimers, transfer of stock options, family limited partnerships, and split dollar arrangements. Ms. Simanek drafts documents associated with such strategies, as well as wills and a variety of trusts, including credit shelter trusts, revocable trusts, irrevocable "Crummey" trusts, defective grantor trusts, and Florida "flite" trusts. She has devoted a portion of her practice to integrating retirement plan assets into an estate plan and focusing on elder law issues. Ms. Simanek earned her B.A degree, cum laude, from Smith College, her M.B.A degree from University of Pittsburgh and her J.D degree, cum laude, from Duquesne University School of Law.