Professional Advisors
The unassuming expert - Kristin Matsko, Esq.
A law colleague once said Kristin Matsko “takes pride in her profession and is a compassionate advocate for her clients.”
The rising star in trusts and estates law, particularly elder law, is also beyond humble.
“I have been lucky to fall into a lot of opportunities,” said Matsko, who was raised in Pennsylvania and has called Rhode Island home for nearly 20 years. “I think I have just been in the right place at the right time.”
She is co-chair of Adler, Pollock & Sheehan P.C.’s Trust & Estates Group and, among other honors, was named a Rhode Island Super Lawyers “Rising Star” in elder law from 2016 to 2022. She is also co-chair of the Rhode Island Bar Association’s Probate & Trust Committee, responsible for making legislation, practice, and procedure recommendations to improve this area of law.
The Roger Williams University School of Law (RWU Law) graduate is also in her ninth year on the Board of Directors of Meals on Wheels of RI, Inc. and is a Lifespan Planned Giving Advisory Council member. In addition, she is one of the newest members, having started at the beginning of 2023, of the Rhode Island Foundation’s diverse Professional Advisory Council that helps the Foundation with its charitable giving, endowment planning, and any other insight and counsel it may need.
“I think it is so nice that we have somewhere like the Rhode Island Foundation that’s able to handle the mechanics of [charitable administration] because to attempt to set up a charity alone is hard...The Foundation has just a wealth of knowledge, and having all the resources in one place is invaluable.”
“I think it is so nice that we have somewhere like the Rhode Island Foundation that’s able to handle the mechanics of [charitable administration] because to attempt to set up a charity alone is hard,” she said. “The Foundation has just a wealth of knowledge, and having all the resources in one place is invaluable.”
Matsko didn’t think she would get a job doing only trusts and estates law while she was at RWU Law, but she had an interest in it and did a clerkship in a small law firm that specialized in that field. She was hired by the firm right out of school and stayed four years with them, then did another 11 years or so with two additional firms before starting at her current firm. The Warwick resident has been with Adler, Pollock & Sheehan since December 2021.
“I feel like I blinked, and I have been doing this for 16 years, so I don’t feel like I am old enough to be doing this for 16 years,” the wife and mother of two boys said while laughing.
In explaining why she chose this specialty within the field of law, Matsko said, “Getting to know families deeper is really fulfilling. I don’t know anything about criminal property. I don’t know anything about intellectual law. It is a very narrow niche. I gravitated toward elder law because I like working with older people, so I do a lot of Medicaid planning, which can be hard and leave families feeling overwhelmed. I just want to help.”
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