New Jersey Elder Lawyers

Elder Law

776 Mountain Blvd, Suite 202, Watchung, NJ 07069

Stacey M. Edwards practices estate and elder law in Watchung, New Jersey, where she founded Edwards Estate & Elder Law and serves as managing member. Some clients come to her to plan for incapacity or death; others need representation after either has occurred. She also works with people and caregivers confronting financial and care problems caused by illness, injury or disability. Her clients include older adults subjected to financial manipulation or abuse. Edwards graduated from High Point University in 1990 with a bachelor’s degree in political science. A master’s degree in justice from The American University followed in 1995, then a Juris Doctor from Seton Hall School of Law in 1998. She was admitted to the New Jersey bar in 1999 and the New York bar in 2025. Away from client matters, Edwards speaks about estate planning through the New Jersey State Bar Foundation’s Speakers Bureau. Those talks reach high school students nearing eighteen as well as older audiences, including senior citizens. Lawyers and colleagues are another audience: she has been a course panelist for HalfMoon Education and the New Jersey Institute of Continuing Legal Education. Her podcast appearances include “Thoughtful Planning,” “The Decluttering Club” and “In the Know with Joe,” discussing estate and elder law. On social media, she uses a doll called “Lawyer in the Foyer,” posed with props, as part of her estate-planning education campaign.

Elder Law

776 Mountain Blvd, Ste 202, Watchung, NJ 07069

Area of Practice: Elder, Estate, & Trust Law Partner Stacey (formerly known as Stacey L. Pilato) began working with founding partner, Joe, in 2005 as an Associate. Balancing the practice of law with raising two children, her accountant introduced her to Joe. She took a brief stint in 2007 to practice municipal law and then worked with a small estate planning firm, but found she was constantly on the phone consulting on complex matters with Joe and became devoted to the practice of estate planning and elder law. She returned in 2008 as Of Counsel to work with Joe, and became partner in the 2011 reorganization. Stacey studied political science, receiving her Bachelor of Arts at High Point University (formerly High Point College) in 1990. She studied the justice system and court administration at The American University, earning a Master of Science in Justice in 1995. In 1998, she attained her Juris Doctor in law from Seton Hall University, where she was an Associate Editor and published an article in the 1997-1998 Seton Hall Legislative Journal. Practicing for 22 years, she was admitted to the Bar of New Jersey on her son’s first birthday in December 1999. Her knowledge from prior practice areas including family law, landlord/tenant, real estate and commercial transactions, election law, contracts, torts, municipal government and public defense allows her to provide clients with insight on issues that may cross over into elder law, estate planning estate administration or litigation from other areas of law, such as real property, adoption, divorce/dissolution, or guardianship issues. Stacey is passionate about crafting an estate plan tailored for each individual in order to avoid the devastating family or financial crises that often arise from poor planning, or no planning. Stacey is a fearless advocate for her clients in estate, trust and guardianship disputes, Medicaid planning and applications. She is a frequent lecturer to caregivers and membership organizations on the significance of “no writing, no rights,” and how crucial it is for everyone age 18 and above, including her own young adult children, to have a complete and appropriate estate plan.