As someone who has started over in the US with nothing, spent twelve years in senior positions at top Wall Street firms, and earned the Chartered Financial Analyst designation, Katya Sverdlov understands both how hard wealth is to build and how quickly it can disappear. She founded Sverdlov Law PLLC to give families the personal attention and financial sophistication usually reserved for the very wealthy, with one goal in mind: preserving both family harmony and family assets.
Katya’s commitment to this work is personal. When her family came to the United States in the 1980s, they had to leave everything behind: their apartment, their country home, their car, and all of their savings. For several weeks they lived in a homeless shelter, until her father found his first job. Neither Katya nor her parents ever wanted to lose everything again, and that experience shapes how she practices. She believes every family, whatever the size of its estate, deserves a plan that protects what it has built and spares loved ones from conflict and uncertainty.
Katya represents clients in matters ranging from business succession planning and complex estate tax issues to Medicaid planning and fraud investigations. Her practice covers estate planning and trusts, special needs planning, Medicaid planning and elder law, probate and estate administration, adult guardianship, and business succession. As a CFA® charterholder with a background in investment banking and securities, she reads tax returns, investment portfolios, and business financials with the same fluency as legal documents, which lets her design plans that work financially as well as legally.
Katya holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Cornell University and a Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from Brooklyn Law School, and is admitted to practice in New York. She is a member of the New York State Bar Association (including its Trusts and Estates Law Section and Elder Law Section), the New York City Bar Association, and the Brooklyn Bar Association.
In her free time, Katya spends time with her husband and 2 daughters, reads books, enjoys NYC theater, travels the world, and volunteers with political prisoners.
Proof that some relationships need no paperwork at all:
Katya’s dog – Broomer