Meester Advocaat Stephen M. ASBEL

Stephen M. Asbel is partner at the Philadelphia office of the firm and an active member of the Wills, Trusts & Estates Group and the Corporate & Business Services Group. Stephen has extensive experience providing estate planning and estate and trust administration services, including estate taxation, choosing fiduciaries, drafting wills, powers of attorney, medical directives, living wills, special needs trusts, and estate planning.Stephen helps families plan for special needs children and manage the needs of aging parents. He also assists with estate tax planning, preserving and passing on wealth, and business ownership from one generation to the next. His services include developing trusts and business succession plans that address tax concerns and creating structures that accommodate clients and their families. Stephen is also experienced in obtaining court-decreed guardianships for family members of clients seeking protection. Stephen advises clients who are building their families, offering guidance on prenuptial agreements and contracts related to assisted reproductive technology.Stephen has been at the forefront of the LGBTQ+ community’s needs for many years, before the legal recognition of same-sex marriage was achieved nationally. With friends and family in the LGBTQ+ community, Stephen was committed to using his skills and experience as a lawyer to provide LGBTQ+ clients with as much legal protection as possible under the law as it then existed. Although significant progress has been made in the law, much remains to be done, and he continues to be dedicated to helping those clients who need that planning and protection. He has experience working with LGBTQ+ couples and their families to ensure both parents have the strongest protections for parental rights, including parentage confirmation/second-parent adoption proceedings, which are crucial in an environment where parentage laws are not uniform in all jurisdictions.As an active member of the Corporate & Business Services Group, Stephen has experience in contract preparation and review, reviewing mergers and acquisitions transactions and various aspects of due diligence, as well as drafting resolutions to facilitate transactions for the firm’s clients.Outside of the office, Stephen enjoys gardening, researching, building family trees, traveling, listening to history podcasts, being active in his synagogue, reading, and spending time with his family and friends.