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Getting to Know Catherine B. (“Kylee”) Read
What drew you to the practice of special needs planning?
Growing up, I volunteered for the elderly and disabled through parochial school and service clubs. My family considered service a part of education and our faith. That stuck with me. Even when I practiced corporate law, I tried to keep service in my life. At first, I accomplished that by doing service projects with my daughters in their schooling and their extracurricular activities. Later, I changed practice areas and was able to dedicate my career to it. A chief motivator in the change to elder law and special needs planning was what I learned in caring for an elderly loved one.
What challenges do you see most often in your practice and how do you help families navigate them?
That families don’t know what to do when they have a child with a disability. They get bits of information from everywhere, nothing cohesive or directly applicable, and have no idea who or what they can trust. Rarely is information a complete picture that applies to them. Educating families not only on trusts, but on the necessary adjuncts of public benefits, proper trustee selection, ABLE accounts, care managers, taxation – all of these I slow down and connect families to, so they leave us with an operating system that will actually work.
Who or what inspires you the most?
Parents of children with disabilities. Especially, within a couple, the parent who through a mutual division of labor assumes the mental load of always having to find the next good service or smart thing to do for the child. All parents face this. But with children with disabilities, the options and stakes are so much more daunting.
What do you enjoy doing outside of your practice?
My husband and I love spending time with our daughters who are growing up and becoming such neat adults. I’m in awe as they find themselves and work to make the world a better place. My daughter Maura is a college freshman playing Division I field hockey at American University in Washington, D.C., pledging a business fraternity, and learning about the business world, all while considering maybe joining me later in my practice as an attorney (here’s hoping …). My daughter Claire is a rising high school freshman who loves theater,
volleyball, and anything that brings a team together.
What are you most proud of accomplishing in your career or personal life?
I’m grateful I was able to change my career from corporate law to elder law and special needs planning, and to be a partner in my own firm. Learning a new practice area in my 40s, and taking on such challenges as becoming a CELA and SNA member, have not been easy but certainly rewarding.
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