Tax and estate planning expert receives Kess Award

Martin Shenkman, principal at Martin M. Shenkman P.C. in Paramus, N.J., received the AICPA’s 2012 Sidney Kess Award for Excellence in Continuing Education during the Conference on Tax Strategies for the High-Income Individual in Las Vegas.

The award, created in 2010 to honor Kess, a nationally renowned tax expert and chair of the conference, recognizes individual CPAs who have made significant and outstanding contributions in tax and financial planning and whose public service exemplifies the CPA profession’s values and ethics. Nominations are solicited by the conference steering committee, and the committee determines the recipient of the award.

Shenkman, a CPA for 32 years, worked for a number of accounting and law firms before starting his own practice in 1988.

“Through his work with RV4TheCause, Marty is a pioneer who has volunteered countless hours traveling the country with his wife to educate CPAs about the importance of estate planning for people with chronic illness,” Kess said.

He previously worked as an adjunct professor of law at Seton Hall University and an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business. He also lectures and has written several books on legal and personal financial planning topics, with a focus on estate planning.