Valerie Zaloom Buccino

ATTORNEY

Early on in her legal career, Valerie served the New York State Supreme Court’s Second Judicial Department as a Senior Attorney for the Mental Hygiene Legal Service. There, she was appointed as Counsel representing the rights of those alleged to be incapacitated as well as Court Evaluator in Guardianship Proceedings. It was in representing people without directives in place that she learned the great importance of proper estate planning—and the emotional and financial cost of failing to do so. When Valerie left this position, she knew that protecting families through forward-thinking estate planning would be her focus.

Valerie attended St. John’s University, both for her undergraduate studies and for law school. She has been working with New York and New Jersey families for over 26 years providing Estate Planning, Special Needs Planning, and Guardianship legal services. 

Valerie has firsthand experience with the challenges of parenting a child who has special needs and of the difficulties that families face in getting those needs met in an educational setting. This sparked an interest in learning more about education law, and when she met Regina Skyer she knew that a professional collaboration was the best way to reach families in need of her skills.

Valerie is a fiduciary of the New York State Supreme Court, OCA and continues to serve the Court as appointed Counsel and as Court Evaluator in Guardianship Proceedings. She recently received the honor of being appointed by the Chief Judge of the New Jersey State Supreme Court to serve as an attorney member of the District Ethics Committee District. She is a licensed Continuing Education Instructor and teaches Trusts and Estate planning in New York City and Brooklyn.

Valerie is a mother of three children, two of whom have learning differences. She is a Staten Island native, who is now an extremely active member of her New Jersey community. She was elected to the North Caldwell Board of Education for two terms, volunteered as a Girl Scout leader, taught religious education for Notre Dame Church, and volunteered to coach her town’s soccer, baseball, and softball teams. She is currently the Moot Court coach at the Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School in Livingston, and she and her family are volunteers at Cause 4 Paws, a nonprofit animal rescue group. She lives in New Jersey with her family, a few cats, and a dog.