Bonnie Ball Wahrer

Bonnie Ball Wahrer represents individuals, families, fiduciaries, and institutional clients in all aspects of trust and estate planning, administration, controversy, and probate litigation.

Bonnie enjoys working with families to help implement their goals to reduce gift and estate taxes, generation-skipping transfer taxes, and to put in place a comprehensive estate plan that addresses their families’ needs for transferring wealth to future generations.

She is also skilled in preparing and negotiating premarital agreements. Bonnie’s strong technical understanding of gift and estate tax and her attention to detail give her the edge in providing high quality services to her clients.

In addition to her trusts and estates practice, Bonnie works with charitable organizations to incorporate and gain 501(c)(3) tax exempt-status. She regularly counsels public charities with respect to governance and compliance matters.

Prior to joining Pierce Atwood, Bonnie gained valuable insight into state appellate litigation as law clerk to the Honorable Chief Justice Leigh I. Saufley of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, and federal pretrial management and trial litigation experience as law clerk to the Honorable John H. Rich III of the United States District Court for the District of Maine.

While in law school, Bonnie served as editor-in-chief of the Maine Law Review, and pioneered the path for dual enrollment in the University of Maine School of Law, Juris Doctor, and University of Southern Maine, Muskie School of Public Service, Master of Public Health (MPH) programs after being accepted into both in 2015.

Bonnie, a Buffalo, New York, native, lives in southern Maine, with her husband, Bill, their standard poodle, Belize, cats, Theodore and Alvin, and horse, Simon. Bonnie is also an avid equestrian. She started riding as a young child, continued riding competitively at the intercollegiate level, and currently competes as an adult amateur in New England.