Vanessa J. Skinner

Vanessa Skinner is a shareholder in Winderweedle, Haines, Ward & Woodman’s Trusts & Estates department, which she chairs. She also serves on the firm's management committee. She practices mainly in the areas of estate planning, special needs planning, elder law, corporate law, and probate and trust administration.

In working with her clients to develop their estate plans, Vanessa counsels them on probate avoidance, asset protection, estate and gift taxes, and preservation of government benefits for disabled beneficiaries. Vanessa assists disabled individuals in obtaining critical government benefits such as Social Security Disability Insurance, Supplemental Security Income, Medicaid, Medicare and Veterans Benefits by developing and implementing proper planning tools, including drafting special needs trusts, qualified income trusts and personal service contracts. Vanessa represents fiduciaries such as guardians, guardian advocates, personal representatives and trustees as well as beneficiaries in estate and trust administration matters.

A former journalist, Vanessa has written about estate planning, special needs planning and guardianship topics for the Orlando Sentinel and the Orange County Bar Association’s Briefs. She currently serves as a guest columnist addressing a variety of elder law topics for Growing Bolder Magazine. She also hosts The Power of Planning Podcast, which can be heard on Spotify.