Five Questions With: Kathleen A. Ryan

Kathleen A. Ryan joined Washington Trust Co.’s wealth-management division this month. Ryan was hired from the Providence law firm Partridge Snow & Hahn LLP, where she was partner and chair of the Trusts and Estates Group. She’s joining the wealth management team as a senior vice president and will oversee the trust and estate services to provide fiduciary services, including wealth transfer planning, charitable giving and business succession planning.

PBN: Congratulations on your new position with Washington Trust. Can you tell our readers a little bit about your responsibilities and what brought you to Washington Trust?
RYAN:
I am thrilled to join Washington Trust Wealth Management after having spent more than 25 years as a trusts and estates attorney and having the privilege of working at one of the area’s top law firms. At Partridge Snow & Hahn, I helped individuals implement their estate plans and advised fiduciaries in the administration of trusts and estates. In my new role as senior vice president, Trust and Estate Services and Client Services at Washington Trust, I will lead the Trust Administration Division and will work with a team of more than 100 wealth management professionals to facilitate the implementation of estate plans through the delivery of superior trust administration services. I will also be responsible for the planning and execution of strategies to ensure the highest level of client service. This is a great opportunity for me to work at one of the region’s premier wealth management firms and use my experience and skills to contribute to Washington Trust Wealth Management’s continued growth and client satisfaction.

PBN: How has your experience working at Partridge Snow & Hahn prepared you for this job?
RYAN:
As chairwoman of the Trusts & Estates Group at Partridge Snow & Hahn LLP, I devoted my practice to advising clients on the best ways to achieve their estate planning goals to ensure financial security in the event of death, physical injury or incapacity. Most often, I counseled clients on steps to minimize taxes, sell or otherwise transfer businesses, achieve charitable giving goals, avoid probate at death and administer estates and trusts. Washington Trust’s clients face these same life situations and I will work closely with my Washington Trust colleagues to ensure that we provide proactive and strategic financial solutions for our wealth-management clients.
It’s important that clients have an in-depth understanding of their financial situation in the context of achieving their lifetime goals. My extensive trust and estate planning legal experience, combined with Washington Trust Wealth Management’s full range of trust and estate services and high-level personal client service, will help me effectively move clients toward those goals.

PBN: Is there an increasing need for wealth management professionals in Rhode Island? Why or why not?
RYAN:
Rhode Island is uniquely situated between New York and Boston, two cities included among those with the country’s highest concentration of high net worth Individuals. As those numbers grow, so too does the need for wealth management professionals throughout the Northeast. There are many choices for providers of wealth management services in our state, and I think the challenge for the client lies in determining the best fit to meet their specific needs. Not all wealth-management professionals provide the same services, so it is important to consider both your current account needs as well as long term planning.
That’s where Washington Trust’s holistic approach to wealth management is unique. Washington Trust is a Rhode Island company with a historic reputation for personalized service. This is an important distinction, because the expectations of Rhode Islanders, like anyone else choosing their advisers, are simultaneously focused on value, choice and convenience.

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PBN: When it comes to trust and estate services, what should Rhode Islanders be thinking about when retirement isn’t too far off?
RYAN:
From a trusts and estates perspective, financial planning for a person contemplating retirement should include a review of not only sources of retirement income and options relating to the timing of receiving those benefits, but also beneficiary designations to make sure they are not outdated. For example, a parent whose children have grown to a mature age since beneficiaries were last designated may wish to substitute children as beneficiaries in place of trusts previously designated when the children were minors, or the charitably inclined person may wish to insert a charity as a beneficiary to avoid income taxation on post-death distributions of the retirement funds. Additionally, estate planning documents should be reviewed for possible updates. In particular, it may be advisable to incorporate estate tax planning provisions in the will or trust documents due to the appreciation and accumulation of assets over time. Rhode Island has an estate tax system that exempts from tax the amount of $1,500,000 per person, which is to be adjusted for inflation, and married couples may take advantage of double the exemption amount with proper planning, as we await portability at the state level. (Federal estate tax issues should also be considered.)

PBN: How does that thinking change for Rhode Island business owners whose retirement isn’t too far off?
RYAN:
In addition to updating both beneficiary designations and estate planning documents to address potential estate tax or other issues, a business owner should consider succession planning well in advance of retirement. Planning for the succession of a business involves identifying and addressing goals for future ownership and control of the business, and evaluation of potential tax liabilities and liquidity needs. There may be an agreement in place that provides for a buy-sell arrangement for the retiring owner to sell his ownership interest to the other owners upon retirement. The organizational documents for the entity and buy-sell agreement should be examined in advance to make sure that they accurately reflect the owners’ collective intent with respect to the terms of the transfer and valuation of the business interest, and are otherwise in good standing.

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