We do one thing best. We focus on all aspects of estate planning.
SELECT TO LEARN MORE:
TRUSTS & ESTATE PLANNING
FACTA COMPLIANCE PROGRAM
TAX CONSULTING
BUSINESS FORMATION
PROPERTY AGREEMENTS
OUR ESTATE PLANNING ATTORNEYS CONCENTRATE THEIR EFFORTS IN THE FOLLOWING AREAS:
TRUSTS & ESTATE PLANNING
- Living trusts provide for the management of property during the client's lifetime in case of disability and also for the effective disposition of a client's assets at death in a tax-efficient and probate-free manner
- Life insurance trusts remove death benefits from existing life insurance policies and reduce taxable estate
- Charitable trusts created to make a substantial gift to a charity and also achieve income and estate tax savings for the donor
- Special needs trusts hold supplemental funds for the benefit of an individual with disabilities who receives public benefits
- Minor's trusts are established to provide income and property for the minor's benefit but allows donor supervision of distribution of benefits.
- Support and educational trusts for children and other family members designed to minimize income taxes while providing the assurance that resources will be available to beneficiaries for estate purposes
- Spendthrift trusts gives an independent trustee full authority to make decisions as to how the trust funds may be spent for the benefit of the beneficiary. Creditors of the beneficiary generally cannot reach the funds in the trust, and the funds are not actually under the beneficiary's control
- "Estate freezing" techniques such as Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts (GRATs), Qualified Personal Residence Trusts (QPRTs), and installment sales to "defective" grantor trusts, which are irrevocable trusts in which the grantor retains a certain right for a specified term
- Wills, testamentary trusts, and similar arrangements provide security for the client's heirs, reduce income taxes, and maximize administrative efficiency
- Durable powers of attorneys authorize a designated agent to make financial decisions for an incapacitated person
- Advance health care directives allow a designated agent to make health care decisions for an incapacitated person
- Planning for qualified plan and Individual Retirement Account (IRA) assets
- Estate and trust administration, including distribution of assets to beneficiaries
FACTA COMPLIANCE PROGRAM
- U.S. individual taxpayers’ compliance to report information about certain foreign financial accounts and offshore assets pursuant to the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA)
TAX CONSULTING
- Estate and gift tax planning, general tax planning for pension trusts and business entities including partnerships, limited liability companies, and corporation
BUSINESS FORMATION
- Family partnerships, joint ventures, and limited liability companies, substantially minimizing the family's potential income and estate tax, allowing transmission of assets to children now, while preserving complete control
- The creation of business structures to maximize deferral of estate taxes and the implementation of "buy-out" agreements and insurance programs to ensure that sufficient liquid assets will be available to pay taxes
- Succession planning for a closely held business
PROPERTY AGREEMENTS
- Planning and negotiating prenuptial agreements, cohabitation agreements, and other arrangements to protect assets and earnings from potential claims of ex-spouses or others
- Planning and negotiating specialized marital settlement agreements to provide for the continued unified operation and control of a family business and investment properties following a divorce