Katherine Carpenter, Esq.

Katy practices in the areas of traditional estate planning, special needs estate planning, long term care planning, trust administration and estate administration.

Katy is admitted to practice in New York having graduated cum laude from Albany Law School in 2016. However, Katy’s legal career began with her graduation from Marist College in 2010 where she graduated cum laude earning a B.A. in Political Science as well as completing the Paralegal Certificate program. Katy joined Wilcenski & Pleat in 2014 as an experienced paralegal in the areas of estate planning and estate administration.

By challenging herself and working while attending law school, Katy compiled over six years of practical skills with meaningful and transferable experience. Katy takes her responsibilities very seriously and focuses her energy on helping clients navigate legal issues through close client contact, effective communication and strong working relationships with colleagues. Katy is compassionate and committed to problem-solving and helping prepare families not only for the certainties in life – death and taxes – but other personal, yet unpredictable matters such as planning for a loved one with special needs, balancing delicate relationships through administration of a trust or estate, or helping a family understand the options for long term care.

A lifelong resident of the Capital District, Katy’s professional life has been guided by her commitment to giving back to the community. While at Albany Law School, Katy served as Project Director for the Albany Law School’s Tax Law Pro Bono Society, an extension of the IRS’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program (V.I.T.A.), which prepares personal income tax returns for low-income individuals, Co-President for the National Academy of Elder Law Attorney’s student chapter organizing community events, she presented for the Elder Law Pro Bono Society focusing on rural regions of New York to discuss various elder law topics for local senior citizens, she participated in the Albany Law School and Justice Center’s Tax and Transactions Clinic representing low-income individuals and non-profits with tax controversies, and she volunteered for The Legal Project’s Wills Clinic and Uncontested Divorce Clinic. During her time at Albany Law School, Katy dedicated over 300 hours to pro bono and community efforts earning her the 2016 Pro Bono Service Award. At Commencement, Katy was awarded the Edward M. Cameron, Jr. ’21 Memorial Prize as the highest-ranking graduate who made a significant contribution in the area of public interest law.

Katy was nominated and selected to serve as the Fourth Judicial District Delegate, Co-Chair of the Publications Committee and is on the committee for young lawyer engagement for the Elder and Special Needs Law Section of the New York State Bar Association. Katy is also a member of the Trusts and Estates Law Section as well as the Young Lawyers Section of the New York State Bar Association. Most recently, Katy joined the Saratoga County Bar Association and the Estate Planning Council of Eastern New York.

Prior to law school, Katy interned with a Member of the UK Parliament through the Hansard Scholars Program while attending the London School of Economics and interned with the New York State Attorney General’s Consumer Frauds Bureau in Poughkeepsie.

Katy enjoys traveling, gastronomy, hot yoga, water skiing and playing classical piano. She lives in Schenectady with her husband, Kyle, and their two dogs, Bambino and Brody.