Professional Biography

Melinda Merk

SunTrust BankPrivate Wealth Management8330 Boone Boulevard, 2nd FloorMail Code CS-ACW 5002Vienna, VA 22182Direct Phone (703) 442 1534Direct Fax (703) 759 8653melinda.merk@suntrust.com

Melinda Merk is a Senior Vice President and Region Trust Advisor and part of the Greater Washington/Baltimore Private Wealth Management team at SunTrust Bank. She focuses on providing multi-generational wealth transfer planning advice and estate and trust services to high net worth individuals, families and business owners.

Melinda has over 15 years experience in the estates and trusts area. Her prior experience includes serving clients as a Tax Director in the Personal Financial Services group at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, and as a Tax Manager in the National Tax Department at Ernst & Young LLP. She was also engaged in private practice as a Senior Counsel in the Private Wealth Services group at Holland & Knight LLP. She has significant experience advising clients with regard to domestic and foreign trusts, family limited partnerships, grantor retained annuity trusts and other wealth transfer strategies, charitable trusts, cross-border planning, estate and trust administration, and asset protection planning.

Melinda received a B.S. (cum laude) from Shepherd University, a J.D. from the Duquesne University School of Law, and an LL.M. in Taxation (with distinction) from the Georgetown University Law Center. She is also a Certified Financial Planner™ certificant.

Melinda is a member of the American Bar Association Section of Taxation, and is a past recipient of the Section’s distinguished John S. Nolan Tax Law Fellowship. In addition, she is a member of the Business Planning and Income and Transfer Tax Planning Groups of the American Bar Association Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Section. She is also a member of the Maryland State Bar Association (Estates and Trusts Law Section), the Virginia State Bar Association (Section of Trusts and Estates), and the Estate Planning Councils for both Northern Virginia and Washington, DC.

Melinda is a frequent speaker and author on various estate and trust issues, including more recent topics such as “Estate Tax Limbo: Three Steps to Take Now,” "Estate Planning for the International Private Client," "Top Ten Planning and Investment Considerations for GRATs," and "Estate Planning for Entrepreneurs."

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