Joseph W. Stuart has practiced law in Northern Virginia since 1993. He has concentrated on contested or complex estate, trust, and elderlaw cases, adult guardianships, estate and trust administration, and estate planning. From 1994 to 2006, Joe practiced with the firm of Manning & Murray in Arlington, Virginia. In 2006, Joe opened his own practice in Fairfax, Virginia.
Over the years, Joe has represented clients in numerous cases involving wills, estates, trusts, and other fiduciary matters, including several reported decisions that have defined the law in Virginia. Joe has been appointed by the local Virginia courts as guardian and conservator for incapacitated adults, curator and administrator for estates, and trustee of trusts since 1993. He has also been certified as guardian ad litem for incapacitated persons by the Virginia Supreme Court since 1998. In 2022, 2023, and 2025, Joe rated as a Super Lawyer in the areas of estate planning & administration and estate & trust litigation.
Joe has been active in bar and pro bono activities. He is member of the Trust & Estate Section of the Virginia State Bar, and former co-chair of the Wills, Trust & Estates Section of the Fairfax County Bar Association. He served as President of the Board of the Alzheimer's Family Day Center, Fairfax, Virginia from 2003 to 2006. Joe has given many presentations to lawyers and laymen on estate planning, end-of-life matters, and related subjects.
Joe received his law degree, along with a joint degree in philosophy , from the Catholic University of America, in Washington, D.C., where he also served as Assistant Dean for Administration at Catholic University's School of Law. He received his bachelor’s degree from Christendom College, Front Royal, Virginia.