Frederick K. Schoenbrodt, II

Frederick K. Schoenbrodt, II represents clients in all trusts and estates matters and leads the firm’s Private Client practice.  

With more than twenty years of experience as a trust and estate attorney, Fred brings wide-ranging expertise, deep technical knowledge, and simple common sense to the work he does for his clients.  He is a thoughtful and reliable counselor to his clients, a person to whom his clients often turn for advice and assistance with some of their most important questions:

• How to best structure their affairs to provide for the people that matter most to them?
• How to construct a meaningful personal, business, or charitable legacy that is impactful and built to last?
• How to fulfill the important fiduciary responsibilities of serving as an executor, or as a trustee, or as a guardian?

The first step in every new matter is a conversation, where the client shares his or her goals, raises concerns, and asks questions.  In that first meeting, or sometimes before or after it, Fred will gather the information, often about family and assets, that he needs to best advise the client.  With that information in hand, Fred will recommend next steps and discuss costs associated with his recommendations so that the client can make an informed decision about how to proceed. Examples of typical next steps include:

• In estate planning, preparation of draft wills, revocable or irrevocable trusts, powers of attorney, health care directives, or other documents;
• In estate administration, probate of the will and initiation of the process to prepare required tax returns and settle the estate;
• In charitable planning, preparation of draft trusts, organizational documents for foundations or other charities, or applications for tax-exempt status;
• In trust and estate controversies, evaluation of facts, development of strategies, and preparation of pleadings.

Each situation is different, but Fred ensures that every matter is handled with the utmost attention and care.

In addition to his law degree, Fred holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Taxation from the New York University School of Law. Before entering private practice, he served as an Army judge advocate with the 25th Infantry Division in Hawaii.

Active in the community, Fred served on the Board of Trustees of the Community Foundation of New Jersey for nine years, including serving on its Executive and Investment Committees and as founder and Chair of its Legal, Wealth & Tax Advisory Committee.  In addition, he has served on the Executive Board of the BSA Patriots Path Council as the Council’s Planned Giving Chair, the Board of Trustees of the West Morris Soccer Club, the Mendham Borough Board of Education, and as Chair of the Meridian Health Affiliated Foundations Philanthropic Planning Council.        

Awards & Accolades

• Included in the list of the Best Lawyers in America, 2020-2023
• Selected to the list of the New Jersey Super Lawyers, 2014-2022
• Recognized in the New Jersey Super Lawyers, “Rising Stars" List, 2010

No aspect of this or any advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey. A description of the award methodologies can be found here.

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Professional Affiliations

• Member, American Bar Association
  • Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Section
  • International Law Section
•  Member, New Jersey State Bar Association
  • Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Section (Board of Consultors, 2015-2019)
• Member, Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP)
  • TEP Designation