Dean Berry, Chair of the firm's Private Client Group, counsels clients on developing and implementing tax-efficient strategies for the management and transfer of private wealth, with a focus on complex U.S. and international trust and estate planning. He frequently works with attorneys, accountants, investment advisers and fiduciaries within and outside the U.S. to provide coordinated advice to clients having contacts with more than one country.
In his estate planning practice, Dean advises U.S. and foreign clients on the U.S. personal income, estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer tax laws. Planning often includes the preparation of wills and the establishment of structures utilizing trusts, partnerships, limited liability companies and insurance. Representative clients include individuals with family connections to multiple jurisdictions, individuals married to non-U.S. citizen spouses, U.S. beneficiaries of foreign trusts, U.S. shareholders of foreign corporations and foreign persons owning U.S. assets. When necessary, he represents clients in tax audits, appeals and litigation. In the area of estate and trust administration, he advises fiduciaries and beneficiaries with respect to probate, the prudent investor standard for investments, fiduciary accountings, controversies, and related court proceedings.
Dean also advises and assists philanthropic donors in making charitable gifts through private foundations, donor-advised funds, and charitable split-interest trusts, and advises charitable organizations on corporate and tax matters.
Dean is a member of the American Bar Association (Section on Real Property, Probate and Trust Law) and the New York State Bar Association (Trusts and Estates Section). He received his J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review. He received his A.B., magna cum laude, from Harvard College, where he was selected for Phi Beta Kappa in his Junior year, an A.M. in History from the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and an LL.M in Taxation from the New York University School of Law.
After having practiced for over 30 years with large organizations—first as a partner in Baker & McKenzie and then as the leader of Deloitte Tax LLP’s international private client practice—Robert has launched his own specialist law firm called, cleverly, Robert Dumont PLLC, and promptly appointed himself as head of the practice. Robert advises on a broad range of tax and estate planning issues relating to the cross-border activities of private clients and international family offices.
Education
Georgetown University Law Center, J.D., 1977
New York University School of Law, Master of Laws in Taxation, 1981
Memberships
The Bar of the State of New York
The Bar of the United Kingdom and Wales (non-practicing solicitor)
The Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP)
Recent appearances and articles
Co-Chair, Practicing Law Institute (PLI) annual conference on International Estate & Tax Planning, New York City, since 2009
International Planning for High Net Worth Families (Tax Notes International, March 2010)
Trusts and the Foreign Corporate Anti-Deferral Rules (CFCs and PFICs) (PLI, April 2010)
International Charitable Giving, Chapter 4: The Role of Tax Treaties (Oxford University Press, November 2012)
Planning for the Acquisition, Use, and Disposition of US Residential Property by Foreign Clients (PLI, April 2013 with Dean Berry)
The Taxation of Nonresident Aliens and Pre-Immigration Planning from a US Perspective (International Estate Planning Institute, NYSBA and STEP, March 2015)
