Attorney Profile

Gregory J. Weinig is a partner practicing in the areas of trusts and estates, including trust and estate planning, trust and estate administration, and trust and estate litigation. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), serving actively on its Fiduciary Litigation Committee. Greg works with an array of clients with diverse needs in trust and estate planning and administration, bringing his significant experience in trust and estate litigation matters to bear on his planning and administration activities. His trust and estate drafting and administration activities include work for clients across a wide spectrum of needs and complexity, residing both locally and across the country, the latter particularly including dynasty trusts, asset protection trusts, directed trusts, and other trust planning typically associated with a Delaware practice.

Greg has litigated in a number of high-stakes and smaller-scale fiduciary litigation matters, ranging from trust and will construction actions to multi-layered trust and will contests to asset protection trust matters. Greg also has an extensive practice in many other areas involving trusts and estates, such as working with institutional fiduciaries in trust review and intake, resolution of administrative matters, and risk management; representing fiduciaries and beneficiaries in contentious trust and estate situations that have stopped short of filed litigation; drafting and presenting consent petitions and other routine proceedings in the Delaware Court of Chancery; testifying as an expert witness in Court of Chancery estate matters; and serving as a Court-appointed guardian ad litem in both contested and uncontested matters before the Court of Chancery.

Chambers USA: High Net Worth ® has ranked Greg in Band 1 among Delaware's Private Wealth practitioners. Chambers market sources commented that Greg is “very thoughtful, very methodical, and looks at the whole picture,” and that he is “very thorough and exact. He’s just incredible; he knows estate planning inside and out, and makes recommendations which are right for each individual situation.” Greg has also been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America ® for Trusts and Estates, Trust and Estate Litigation, and Tax Law – earning the Delaware “Lawyer of the Year” designation (awarded to the individual attorney with the highest overall peer-feedback for a specific location and practice area) in 2021 for Trust and Estate Litigation and in 2020 for Tax Law.  Greg has an AV ® rating under Martindale-Hubbell's Preeminent™ Peer Review certification, and has also been honored in Delaware Today's Top Lawyers and Super Lawyers for Trusts & Estates law.

Greg is a past chair of the Estates and Trusts Section of the Delaware State Bar Association, and currently serves as a primary drafter on its Trust Act Committee's annual updates to Delaware’s trust and estate statutes. His pro bono activities include work with the “Mega Wills” event run by several Delaware pro bono organizations, and with other indigent clients having estate planning needs.

Greg’s focus on wills and estates stems from his lifelong interest in genealogy. Tracing his ancestors has led him to travel and research extensively in the United States and Europe. He is also a member of several family associations and historical organizations, and has published articles in genealogical journals. A Delaware native, Greg resides in the Wilmington, Delaware area with his wife and two children.

*AV Preeminent and BV Distinguished are certification marks of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc., used in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell® certification procedures, standards and policies. Ratings reflect the confidential opinions of members of the Bar and the Judiciary. Martindale-Hubbell ratings fall into two categories: legal ability and general ethical standards.

Publications

• "Oh, Those Crazy Lay Fiduciaries! What Professionals Should Watch When Working With Them", Delaware Banker, Fall 2019, Vol. 15 No. 4  (pp. 10-12)
• "Serving As A Trustee Without a Safety Net," Trusts & Estates, May 2019 (pp. 42-44) (co-author with Trisha W. Hall)
• "A Further Clue to the English Origin of William¹ Godfrey of Watertown, Massachusetts, and Hampton, New Hampshire, and the Name of His First Wife," The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Fall 2018 (Vol. 172, Whole No. 668, pp. 293-300)
• "Elisha Freeman of Provincetown, Massachusetts (ca. 1758/9-1825)," Mayflower Descendant, Summer 2017 (Vol. 65, No. 2, pp. 101-112)
• “When Does a Signed Trust Document Not Create a Trust?” Trusts & Estates, November 2013 (pp. 40-50) (co-author with Charles J. Durante and Scott E. Swenson)
• “The Death of John⁵ Freeman of Cape Cod, Rochester, and Hardwick, Massachusetts,” Mayflower Descendant, Autumn 2012 (Vol. 61, No. 2, pp. 119-120)
• “Otto v. Gore: Dueling Trust Instruments and a Unique Case of Grantor Intent,” LISI Estate Planning Newsletter #1981 (June 26, 2012) at http://www.leimbergservices.com
• “The Identity of Susanna Freeman, Second Wife of Zaccheus Handy of Sandwich and Rochester, Mass.,” Mayflower Descendant, Spring 2012 (Vol. 61, No. 1, pp. 76-82)
• Delaware Statutory Trusts Manual, 2010 Edition (LexisNexis, 2010) (contributing author)
• “Trust Act 2007 and Other Delaware Trust Legislation,” Delaware Banker, Summer 2007 (Vol. 3, No. 3, p. 22)
• Delaware Probate Litigation: What to do When Final Wishes are Contested (Eau Claire, WI: National Business Institute, Inc., 2005) (co-author and co-presenter with Charles J. Durante)

Speaking Engagements

• 2020 Delaware Trust Conference, “A Delaware Update:  Legislation, Cases, and Trends”
• 2020 ACTEC/ALI-CLE Webinar, "Representing Fiduciaries"
• 2019 ACTEC Mid-Atlantic Fellows Institute, "Representing Fiduciaries"
• 2019 Delaware Trust Conference, "The 2019 Trust Act: A Primer on What's New in the First State"
• September 2019 Delaware Bankers Association Trust Committee, "Update on Trust Act 2019"
• 2018 ACTEC Fall Meeting, Fiduciary Litigation Committee Meeting, Panelist, “Change is Here to Stay: The Fate of Settlor Intent in a World of Flexibility” (session preview podcast)
• 2016 Delaware Trust Conference, "Silence is Golden -The Best Way to Set Up a Quiet Trust: Roadmap to Navigating the Issues and Pre-Mortem Validation"
• 2015 Delaware Tax Institute, "Dancing with the IRS: Do the Bump -Do the Basis Bump"
• 2015 Delaware Trust Conference, "Dispelling the Myths: Why Directed Trusts Are Not as Simple as They Seem"
• 2013 Delaware Tax Institute, “Estate Planning for Couples After the 2012 Act and the DOMA Decision”
• 2013 Delaware Trust Conference, “Directed Trusts”
• 2011 Delaware Trust Conference, “Crossing the Bridge — Drafting vs. Administration”
• 2011 Delaware State Bar Association Seminar, “Fundamentals of Estate Administration”
• 2009 Delaware Trust Conference, “Creditor Protection: How to Use, Not Abuse”
• 2009 Delaware State Bar Association Seminar, “Delaware Taxation: Basics and Opportunities” (presentation on realty transfer tax)
• 2009 Delaware Tax Institute, “Developments in Case Law Affecting Trusts”
• 2008 Delaware Trust Conference, “Use of Delaware Counsel for Delaware Trust Planning and Documents”
• 2007 Delaware Trust Conference, “Delaware Trust Law: A Legislative Update”
• 2006 Delaware Trust Conference, “Delaware Trust Law: A Legislative Update”