Samantha Winter McAlpin
Overview
Samantha Winter McAlpin helps families, individuals, and fiduciaries navigate probate disputes, administer trusts and estates, and create estate plans.
Samantha advises clients on all aspects of estate planning, including wills, trusts (revocable and irrevocable), health care and financial powers of attorney, and living wills. As a complement to her estate planning practice, she litigates contested probate and trust claims involving trustees, personal representatives, beneficiaries, and the exploitation of vulnerable adults. She also has significant experience in probate and trust administration, guardianships, conservatorships, and taxation.
Prior to her return to private practice, Samantha served as a senior attorney for the Internal Revenue Service’s Office of Chief Counsel in Phoenix, where she provided legal counsel to the IRS and represented the government’s interests in U.S. Tax Court, with an emphasis on matters involving estate and gift taxation and collection from probate estates. She was educated at Arizona State University, the University of San Diego School of Law, and Notre Dame Law School and has received recognition from the Arizona Bar Foundation for her pro bono work.
Credentials
Education
- University of Notre Dame Law School, 2011 (J.D.)
- University of San Diego School of Law, 2015 (LLM)
- Arizona State University, 2008 (B.A.), summa cum laude
Court Admissions
- U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia
- U.S. Tax Court
- Flinn Scholar Alumni Council, Past Chair
- Arizona State University College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Dean’s Council, Emerging Leader
- Arizona Foundation for Legal Services & Education, High School Mock Trial Program Judge
- Arizona Animal Welfare League and SPCA, Former Executive Board Member
- Best Lawyers in America, Ones to Watch, Litigation – Trusts and Estates; Trusts and Estates, 2021
- Southwest Super Lawyers, Rising Star, Estate Planning & Probate, 2018-2020
- Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project, Children’s Program Pro Bono Attorney of the Year, 2019
- Phi Beta Kappa
- State Bar of Arizona
- Probate and Trust Law Section
- Tax Law Section
- State Bar of California
- Trusts and Estates Section
- Ohio State Bar Association
- The West Virginia State Bar
- “Protect Your Assets: Going One Step Beyond,” Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Arizona State University, September 2019
- “Community Property Issues in Arizona,” National Bank of Arizona Continuing Legal Education Seminar, September 2016