Sarita Bhandarkar opened Bhandarkar Law, P.C. in 2018 in Cornwall, New York. An Orange County native, Sarita worked at a boutique trusts and estates firm in Manhattan for several years before returning to the Hudson Valley in 2008. Sarita has practiced primarily in the area of wills, trusts and estates, elder law, and special needs planning since graduating from the College of William and Mary School of Law in 2002.
Despite having an office in Cornwall, Sarita is a "traveling attorney," frequently meeting with clients in their own homes or in nursing home settings. In addition to regular office hours, Sarita maintains a flexible schedule to accommodate clients with weekend and evening office hours as needed.
Prior to beginning her legal career, Sarita worked as a high school English teacher. In order to continue working with adolescents and their families as an attorney, Sarita completed her mediation training at the Dispute Resolution Center in Goshen. Through her experiences as a teacher and mediator, Sarita learned to work with multiple generations to resolve conflicts and identify common goals and interests. Sarita frequently works with families who have complex estate planning issues due to second marriages, blended families, mental health or substance abuse issues, and special needs.
Prior to beginning her legal career, Sarita worked as a high school English teacher. In order to continue working with adolescents and their families as an attorney, Sarita completed her mediation training at the Dispute Resolution Center in Goshen. Through her experiences as a teacher and mediator, Sarita learned to work with multiple generations to resolve conflicts and identify common goals and interests. Sarita frequently works with families who have complex estate planning issues due to second marriages, blended families, mental health or substance abuse issues, and special needs.
Sarita returned to law school in 2010, enrolling in New York Law School's LL.M. Tax program, in order to deepen her understanding of sophisticated estate and gift tax planning. She completed her LL.M. studies in June 2012.
Sarita is admitted to practice in New York and is a member of the Tax, Trusts and Estates, and Elder Law sections of the New York State Bar Association.
Sarita presently serves on the boards of the Hudson Valley Estate Planning Council and Leadership Orange. She previously served on the board of the Arc of Orange County and on the Professional Advisors Council of the Community Foundation of Orange and Sullivan. She volunteered as a coach for Girls on the Run Hudson Valley in the founding years of the program.
When Sarita isn’t working, she can be found running in and around Cornwall, volunteering her time with various organizations, experimenting in the kitchen, hanging out with family, paying late fees at the library, gardening, scolding wildlife who invade said garden, and baking cookies.
Areas of Practice
Trust and Estates; Probate and Estate Administration; Estate and Gift Tax Planning; Special Needs Planning; Medicaid Planning; Elder Law; Planning for Blended Families
Bar Admissions
New York, 2003
Education
New York Law School, New York, New York
LL.M. Taxation (2012)
College of William and Mary School of Law, Williamsburg, Virginia
J.D. (2002)
Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts
B.A., cum laude (1998)
Professional Associations
New York State Bar Association
Hudson Valley Estate Planning Council, Board Member and Immediate Past President
Leadership Orange - Class of 2010, Board Member and President
