Peter E. Klaasesz
Peter E. Klaasesz concentrates his practice in the areas of estate planning, estate administration, tax law and elder law. He has also had considerable experience in the area of residential and commercial real estate transactions. Recently, Mr. Klaasesz supervised the administration of several estates that involved significant Federal and New York State estate taxes and was able to conclude the audits of those estates by the Internal Revenue Service to the benefit of his client. With the shift in emphasis away from the issue of estate tax toward preserving assets, Mr. Klaasesz, in the practice of elder law, helps clients in accomplishing this goal so that as much of their assets as possible can be passed to the next generation.
Mr. Klaasesz is a graduate of the State University of New York at Buffalo (B.A., 1959) and the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Law (J.D., 1961) and is admitted to practice law before the Federal District Court for the Western District of New York. He joined Brown & Kelly in 1988 as a result of the merger of the firm of Harrington & Klaasesz into Brown & Kelly. He is a member of the Elder Law Section of the Bar Association of Erie County and the New York State Bar Association, as well as a member of the Real Estate Committee of both associations.
A native of Lancaster, New York, Mr. Klaasesz is active in the community. He is a member and past president of the Rotary Club of Lancaster and a former member of the Buffalo Junior Chamber of Commerce and board of the Lancaster Opera House. A trustee of the Lancaster Presbyterian Church, Mr. Klaasesz serves on the finance committee for the construction of a new sanctuary. He has also served on the Board of Trustees of the Presbytery of Western New York and is currently counsel to the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod Eastern District.