Meet The Principals

I.MARK COHEN, J.D., LL.M, CFP® | Chairman

I Mark Cohen, JD, LL.M, CFP™ is the founding partner and visionary for both Navigator Wealth Management, LLC, Registered Investment Advisor, and Cohen & Burnett, P.C., Attorneys and Counselors at Law. His mission is to demonstrate the superior results of a multidisciplinary approach to wealth management.

Mark graduated from California State University, Long Beach with a Bachelor of Science in Political Science in 1979. He then worked until 1981 as a computer programmer/developer for a small pension firm in Tucson, AZ. He graduated from the College of Law at the University of Arizona in 1984. Mark then joined the United States Navy and served as a Judge Advocate in Norfolk, Virginia until 1988. During this time he attended the Marshall Wythe School of Law at the College of William and Mary and obtained his Masters of Law of Taxation in 1989, graduating first in his class. Upon leaving the Navy, Mark joined the firm of Goodman and Company, CPAs as a tax manager until late in 1989, when he left accounting and went back into law with the McLean, VA firm of Adams, Porter and Radigan. After working there for a year, Mark to set up his own firm in McLean, VA to focus exclusively on estate planning, tax planning, and estate administration.

Although the estate planning practice was successful, Mark soon realized that his clients needed more than just legal advice to make their estate plans work properly. In 1995, together with his father, Dr. D. Allen Cohen, PhD (Physics), he began developing a complex computer model designed to test competing estate and financial planning strategies under varying economic and tax environments. The model is currently in use at Navigator Wealth Management, LLC and is being continuously improved to add and enhance its capabilities.
Mark also began studying the insurance and financial planning fields in 1995 and has obtained his Series 7, 63, and 65. Mark became a Certified Financial Planner™ in 2000.

Mark is licensed to practice law in both Virginia and Arizona. He is a registered representative of Pacific West Securities, Inc., an independent broker/dealer headquartered in Renton, WA. Mark is a past president of the Northern Virginia Estate Planning Council and is an active member of the Legislative Committee of the Wills Trusts and Estates Section of the Virginia State Bar Association. Mark is a frequent lecturer and writer at attorney CLE seminars where he specializes in estate taxes and ethics.

Mark has published extensively in trusts and estates journals, periodicals and magazines, and is the author of the first treatise published on the Uniform Trust Code, (Cohen, 864 T.M. 1st, Uniform Trust Code).  Mark is also a popular speaker at state and national attorney CLE conferences.

Mark grew up in an Air Force family the son of a rocket scientist. He has lived in Ohio, Colorado, California, Israel, Arizona and Virginia. He met his wife, Kathy, during his first year of law school while she was working on her Masters in Teaching English as a Second Language. They were married that summer and shortly thereafter she received her Masters with honors. Together they have two children, Michael and Rachel, who are both undergraduate students at the College of William and Mary.

Mark enjoys woodworking and anything that gets him outdoors, especially cycling, kayaking, flying small airplanes, sailing, and backpacking.

Email: Mark@navigatorwealth.com

Professional Publications and Presentations:

WESTON D. BURNETT, J.D., LL.M., CFP® | President and CEO

Weston D. Burnett, J.D., LL.M, CFP®, is the President and CEO of Navigator Wealth Management and Managing Partner of Cohen & Burnett, PC, Attorneys and Counselors at Law. He espouses a multidisciplinary approach in his business, using integrated strategies from estate, income, business and financial planning to help clients and their families realize financial and life goals.

Wes is a 1972 cum laude graduate of Vanderbilt University with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History, Philosophy and Political Science. He subsequently graduated with Honors in 1975 from George Washington University National Law Center. That same year, he was admitted to the practice of law in Virginia and entered on active duty with the Navy as a judge advocate. In 1983, he earned a Masters of Law Degree with Highest Honors in International and Comparative Law at George Washington University National Law Center. He retired from the Navy as a senior captain in May 2000 and joined I. Mark Cohen. He has since been admitted to the practice of law in Maryland and the District of Columbia. In May 2001, he obtained a Series 7 and 66 license from the National Association of Securities Dealers. In September 2003, he became a Certified Financial Planner™. Wes also has his Life, Health and Annuities Insurance Licenses.

Wes grew up in a Navy family and has lived on three continents and moved over 25 times in his life. His wife, Barbara, was born in Camberley, Surrey, England as her father was a career US Air Force officer on an exchange tour in the United Kingdom. Barb and Wes married within a week of her graduation from Vanderbilt University with Cum Laude honors in 1973. They have three children: David, a UVA graduate with a Masters Degree from University of Texas, Austin, and a law degree from University of Virginia Law School, now working at a law firm in New York City; Edward, a UVA undergraduate with a Masters from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and former Navel Officer on the USS MITSCHER (DD57), is being recruited by several agencies and contractors in the D.C. metro area; and Jennifer, a graduate of James Madison University with a Bachelors and Masters in Psychology now on a PhD fellowship at the University of Louisville, KY.

Wes Burnett is active in his church. He is the President of the Board of Directors of the George Washington University Law Alumni Association and is a member of the Cosmos Club, Washington, D.C.  He enjoys running, hiking, biking, golf, skiing, stamp collecting, history, military affairs, and family and friends.

Email: wes@navigatorwealth.com

Professional Publications and Presentations: