Karen E. Dunivan
Direct Dial: (804) 698-6232 | Facsimile: (804) 649-0654
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Ms. Dunivan, named as a director of the firm in 2001, first became associated with ThompsonMcMullan upon her return to Richmond in 1998. Prior to that time, Ms. Dunivan practiced with the law firm of J. Randy Forbes & Associates in the Hampton Roads area, where she was also involved with Congressman Forbes’ campaigns.
Ms. Dunivan is a 1995 graduate of the T.C. Williams School of Law, University of Richmond, where she attended as a Law Honors Scholar. Before entering the legal arena, she received her Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from the University of Georgia in 1989.
Although Ms. Dunivan has experience in a broad range of areas such as corporate organization, commercial real estate transactions, condominium planning and development, foreclosures, and public procurement, her focus is now narrowed considerably.
Today her practice focuses on all varieties of estate planning and administration. Included in the types of planning are not only estate tax planning and simple testamentary documents, but also disability and long-term care planning. Specific to disability and long-term care planning is a trained knowledge of public entitlements such as Medicaid benefits and Supplemental Security Income for physically and mentally disabled individuals and aging adults.
Ms. Dunivan regularly represents clients in fiduciary and chancery litigation as well. Her experience in these matters has been in many Circuit Courts around Virginia, the United States District Courts, and in several Juvenile and Domestic Relations Courts. The types of litigation she handles include will contests, contested and uncontested guardianships, suits requesting fiduciary guidance, suits to create Special Needs Trusts and to reform trusts, and the prosecution and defense of allegations of fiduciary malfeasance. In the real estate area, Ms. Dunivan has represented clients in partition suits, suits to sell the property of a disabled individual, suits to quiet title and to establish title through adverse possession.
Recently, Ms. Dunivan has been a lecturer for the Virginia Law Foundation, the National Business Institute, and the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, as well as a guest speaker for several local groups. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of AARP’s Widowed Persons Service of Richmond. Ms. Dunivan is a member of the Richmond and American Bar Associations (Section on Real Property, Probate and Trust Law), the Metropolitan Richmond Women’s Bar Association (Finance Chair), the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, and the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys.
Karen E. Dunivan's Practice Areas
