Matthew A. Berlin
Matthew is a trusted advisor to individuals, families, and family-controlled entities in the US and abroad, guiding them through the complexities of estate planning, trust administration, and related tax matters.
With a particular focus on FATCA compliance and offshore informational reporting, Matthew helps clients navigate cross-border issues while preserving wealth and ensuring long-term family and business continuity.
Matthew’s practice encompasses the full spectrum of sophisticated planning techniques, including buy-sell agreements, irrevocable life insurance trusts, intentionally defective grantor trusts, installment sales, charitable lead and remainder trusts, Walton GRATs, and Qualified Personal Residence Trusts. He works closely with clients to implement strategies that minimize transfer tax exposure and protect family assets across generations.
In addition to his planning work, Matthew serves as a fiduciary for numerous trusts, estates, and charitable foundations. He brings extensive experience to the administration of complex assets, from marketable securities and intellectual property to fine art and commercial real estate. He regularly advises trustees and beneficiaries on all phases of administration, including compliance with fiduciary duties and federal and state tax reporting.
Education
- JD, University of Oregon
- BA, Harvard University
Bar Admissions
- Massachusetts
- District of Columbia
- US District Court for the District of Massachusetts
- US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
Experience recognized
- Boston Magazine’s Top Lawyers, Trusts and Estates, 2024-2025
Experience in practice
- Jim Kweskin, The Alternate Root (May 2025, Mentioned)
- Jim Kweskin & the Berlin Hall Saturday Night Revue—Doing Things Right—Jalopy Records, Norman Darwen (May 2025, Mentioned)
- Album Review: Jim Kweskin & The Berlin Hall Saturday Night Revue, ‘Doing Things Right’, Folk Alley (April 2025, Mentioned)
- ALBUM REVIEW: At 84, Jim Kweskin Is Still ‘Doing Things Right’, The Journal of Roots Music (April 2025, Mentioned)
- Exclusive: Jim Kweskin & The Berlin Hall Saturday Night Revue Premiere ‘Mardi Gras Mambo’ ft. Racky Thomas, American Blues Scene (April 2025, Mentioned)
- 84-year-old musician Jim Kweskin returns with some new friends, WBUR (April 2025, Mentioned)
- The intentionally defective grantor trust: a strategy for Swiss resident US persons engaging in US gift tax exemption planning, Oxford University Press (September 2024, Co-author)
- Becoming One Of Us, Revue Internationale du Patrimoine, LegiTech (November 2023, Author)
- Trusts and Estates Foundation: The Belgian Approach, LegiTech (May 2021, Presenter)
- ESCP Business School Paris: U.S. Trusts and Trust Taxation, ESCP Business School (May 2021, Lecturer)
- ESCP Business School Paris: U.S. Trusts and Trust Taxation, ESCP Business School (March 2020, Lecturer)
- Decanting: When an Irrevocable Trust Can be Modified, Revue Internationale du Patrimoine, LegiTech (March 2021, Author)
- Hot Pursuit: Jazz and blues bassist Matthew Berlin, Harvard Magazine (March–April 2020, Interviewed)
- Rubin Rudman, Former Executive Committee Member
- DeSoto Securities Company, President Emeritus,
- Massachusetts Bar Association
- Right Turn (treatment and extended care program for addiction), Member, Board of Directors, 2007-2016
- Accomplished jazz and roots musician. Some of Matthew’s music projects include:
- Louie Bluie Music & Arts Festival and “Sweet Old Song,” a documentary film by Leah Mahan Productions: Sweet Old Song;
- Jim Kweskin – Link to site and discography;
- The Dixie Cookbook,
- Annie and the Fur Trappers,
- Shinichi Otsu and Jazz in the Air
- Hot Club of Boston