AUDRA E. DEHAN is a practitioner in Melville, New York, concentrating her practice in the areas of tax and estate planning, asset protection, long-term care planning, estate planning for families with special needs, will and trust drafting, surrogate’s court proceedings and elder law. Ms. Dehan works closely with accountants, insurance agents and financial professionals, and other attorneys in the course of assisting her clients, and is admitted to practice law in both New York and Florida. Ms. Dehan is an attorney who creates lasting relationships with her clients, with a gift for understanding their needs from a personal perspective. This is especially true when creating special needs trusts, counseling families throughout the grief of losing a loved one, and long-term care planning. She handles matters with sensitivity, as quickly and efficiently as possible, to minimize both the emotional and financial burden legal matters can place on a family or individual. Her clients span the economic continuum from those of modest means with elder law needs, to those with more significant net worth and sophisticated tax needs.

Ms. Dehan is a proud mentor of the Ms. Moxxie Mentoring Program, a nonprofit corporation established in 2012. The mission of the Ms. Moxxie Mentoring Program is to support and foster the career advancement and leadership development of young women through generational mentoring.

Within her surrogate’s court practice, Ms. Dehan handles probate, guardianship proceedings, estate administration, accounting and ancillary proceedings. She petitions for legal guardianship on behalf of parents or other family members for their special needs children or loved ones after they become eighteen. Ms. Dehan also serves as a guardian ad litem, by court appointment in Surrogate’s Court. Preparing for a special-needs family member when the original caretakers are no longer able to do so requires experience in such planning. Ms. Dehan is a frequent lecturer for local SEPTA (Special Education Parent-Teacher Association) groups, as well as professional organizations, including the AHA (Asperger Syndrome and High Functioning Autism Association) Conference at Adelphi University in Garden City, New York, and the Suffolk County Chapter of the Society of Financial Services Professionals.

Ms. Dehan was a member of the fundraising committee of the CODY Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities at Stony Brook University, established to promote excellence in clinical treatment, research, community service, and educational programs benefitting those with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and related developmental disabilities. Since her involvement beginning in 2004, Ms. Dehan has donated many pro bono hours, speaking to parents and providing support workshops on legal matters that affect children with special needs. Ms. Dehan received her undergraduate degree from New York Institute of Technology and her Juris Doctor degree from Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center. She is a member of the Trusts and Estates Section of the Bar Associations of New York State and Suffolk County.