Tara Anne Pleat, Esq.

Tara Anne Pleat practices in the areas of special needs estate planning and administration, traditional estate planning and administration, and long-term care planning. She is a co-owner and co-manager of Wilcenski & Pleat PLLC, with offices in Clifton Park and Queensbury, New York.

Tara is admitted to practice in New York, Florida, and Massachusetts, as well as before the United States Tax Court and the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York. She graduated cum laude from Albany Law School and earned her undergraduate degree from the State University of New York at Albany.

After college, Tara worked as an estate planning paralegal in Albany. “I quickly realized how much I valued the personal connection with families. That experience gave me a strong foundation and a clear sense of purpose.” Tara went on to graduate from Albany Law School in 2002 with honors in the estate planning concentration, entering practice with six years of hands-on experience already behind her.

“I began working with Ed in 2004, which offered me an introduction to special needs law. My passion for this work deepened when my son was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome (an autism spectrum disorder). I feel so fortunate to have a practice that allows me to be both a better mother and a better advocate—for him, and for other families walking a similar path.”

Tara currently serves as President of the Special Needs Alliance, a national, invitation-only network of leading attorneys in disability and public benefits law. She is also Chair Elect of the Trusts and Estates Section of the New York State Bar Association. She previously served as Chair of the Elder Law and Special Needs Law Section of the New York State Bar Association.  In 2023, she was honored with the NAELA Powley Elder Law Award for Advocacy, and in March 2025, she was elected as a Regent of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), where she currently serves as Chair of the Upstate New York Fellows and Chair of the Mid-Atlantic Region.

Tara is also a member of the Elder Law Committee of the Editorial Board of Trusts & Estates Magazine, and in April 2025, she joined the adjunct faculty at the University of Miami School of Law, where she teaches in its prestigious Estate Planning LL.M. program. She continues to teach as an Adjunct Professor at Albany Law School, where she has taught since 2012.

Tara is a Certified Elder Law Attorney (CELA), a designation awarded by the National Elder Law Foundation.* She is also a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA), the Academy of Special Needs Planners, a past President of the Estate Planning Council of Eastern New York, and a graduate of Leadership Saratoga’s Class of 2006. She is a past chair of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and currently sits on Leadership Saratoga’s Advisory Board.

She serves on the Board of Directors of AIM Services, Inc., the Board of Trustees of the Wesley Community and Foundation, and is Co-Chair of the Planned Giving Committee of the Wildwood Foundation. Tara also serves on the Statewide Guardianship Committee of the ARC of New York and on the Advisory Committee for Supported Decision-Making New York (SDMNY).

Tara is a frequent speaker and writer on topics in her field and holds an “AV” rating from Martindale-Hubbell—the highest rating for legal expertise and ethics awarded by the independent rating agency of the legal profession.

In May 2015, she was named one of Saratoga County’s Women of Influence by Saratoga Today and in June 2019, she received the Lisa Niles Distinguished Alumni Award from Leadership Saratoga.

Outside of the office, you might find Tara running in a charity race with the Wilcenski & Pleat “running team,” playing in a scramble golf tournament with friends and colleagues, or hiking and skiing with her family in the Adirondacks. She and her family are on a mission to become Adirondack 46ers, and are well on their way.

“Several years ago, a friend gave me a book she wrote about the history of the women’s movement in Saratoga, Warren, and Washington counties. Her note inside read: ‘Remember, you’re a mother, a daughter, a wife, a sister, and a friend—and at the end of the day what we all really have and can rely on are our family, our friends, and our faith.’ That message has stuck with me. In someone else’s words, it sums up exactly what’s most important to me.”

*This certification is not granted by any governmental authority within the State of New York.