TAX • TRUSTS • ELDER LAW • PROBATE
ESTATES • NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS
Sheila Moragas advises clients in all types of federal, state, and local tax matters, including gift and estate planning, elder care law, exempt organizations, and business taxation. Beginning with the 2012-2013 Supplement, Ms. Moragas co-authors Estate Planning in Louisiana (Thomson West, 1991), a two-volume treatise used by many Louisiana estate planners. Ms. Moragas is an adjunct professor at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law where she teaches Elder and Disabled Law. In addition, she has been named to the Thompson Reuters Publication Super Lawyers for ten consecutive years, 2013 through 2022 and receives the highest level of peer rating from Martindale-Hubbell - AV Preeminent®.
Ms. Moragas advises and assists in sophisticated gift and estate tax planning, including drafting of last wills and testaments, living wills, inter vivos and testamentary trusts, and family businesses. Her practice includes the probate of estates, including state and federal tax filing requirements, as well as tutorships for minors. Ms. Moragas brings valuable legal experience to address legal structures to assure the well being of heirs and legatees with special needs through the use of special needs trusts.
Her practice area includes acts of procuration (powers of attorney), health care powers of attorney, living wills, and other advance directives. She handles complex interdictions, including the requisite annual court reporting. With her knowledge and understanding of Medicaid and Medicare in relation to long-term care, Ms. Moragas provides advice on the impact of those programs as it relates to her clients and their property.
The provisions of the Tax Code regarding non-profit organizations are ever-changing. Ms. Moragas brings her special tax training to provide guidance to non-profit, charitable organizations and private foundations in satisfying and maintaining federal taxation exemption requirements. She works to develop qualifying charitable gifting documents, for example, charitable remainder trusts, charitable lead trust, and charitable gift annuities, to ensure that benefactor-designated gifts meet all legal requirements of the Code.
Sheila Moragas
Partner
Born
December 1969
Education
University of Florida (LL.M. Taxation, Master of Laws, 1996)
Louisiana State University (J.D., 1995)
University of New Orleans (B.S., 1992)
Honors
AV Preeminent Peer Rating, 2023 (Martindale-Hubbell®)
Super Lawyers (Thompson Reuters), 2013 - 2022
New Orleans Magazine Top Lawyers 2021, 2023
Publications
Legal Treatise Co-Author, "Estate Planning in Louisiana" (Thomson West, 1991).
Bar Admissions
Louisiana (1996)
Court Admissions
Supreme Court of Louisiana
United States Tax Court
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
United States District Courts for the
Eastern, Middle, and Western District of Louisiana
Memberships
Board Certified Estate Planning and Administration Specialist by the Louisiana Board of Specialization
Louisiana State Bar Association
Louisiana Elder Law Task Force
New Orleans Estate Planning Council
National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys
Academy of Special Needs Planners
American College of Trust and Estate Counsel