Jill D. Wiley

Jill serves as the Managing Partner of the firm’s Tucson office and as the leader of the Trust and Estate practice. 

Jill is well-versed in handling matters involving wealth transfer planning, estate plan drafting, and trust and probate estate administration and settlement.  She is experienced in preparing fiduciary income tax returns and estate and gift tax returns. 

Her estate planning clients range from people looking to execute their goals in a simple, straightforward process to individuals with complex plans seeking to minimize the impact of estate taxes or dealing with their unique family circumstances.  Jill’s previous experience as a certified public accountant provides her clients with the extreme value of someone who brings both legal and tax knowledge and insights to their estate planning strategy. 

Paying particular attention to each client’s unique goals, Jill provides practical and comprehensive legal advice to protect what matters most to her clients and to meet their personal, financial, and charitable objectives.  She advises clients about practical considerations involved in administering their affairs both during their lifetimes and following their deaths, with an emphasis on avoiding disputes over the disposition of their property.  Jill also guides fiduciaries and family members in all aspects of the trust and probate administration process.

Over the course of her legal career, Jill has been involved with several important decisions, including a case in 2013 where she successfully represented a beneficiary of an Individual Retirement Asset against an action to invalidate the beneficiary designation.  The landmark case was ultimately decided by the Arizona Supreme Court in favor of Jill’s client and was instrumental in confirming a married person’s right to control the disposition of a community property asset.  She also attained favorable outcomes on other appellate matters involving tax apportionment and the effect of an invalid marriage on a testamentary disposition of property.

Other representative matters involving court proceedings, which Jill has handled include:

• Seeking judicial trust reformations, modifications, terminations, and instructions
• Construing or interpreting testamentary documents
• Prosecuting and defending against will and trust contests
• Representing individuals and charities in connection with their rights as beneficiaries of trusts and estates
• Defending and prosecuting claims for breach of fiduciary duties
• Representing creditors to protect their interests in trusts and estates
• Protecting beneficial interests in retirement assets
• Removing and replacing fiduciaries
• Terminating trusts that are no longer serving a material purpose