A variety of clients, ranging from individuals, families, start-ups, privately held businesses and senior executives, seek our services and experience in providing efficient, tailored solutions in the areas of tax, estate planning, trust and estate administration and business succession planning.
Tax Planning
Clients benefit from our extensive experience crafting solutions that minimize gift and estate taxes, income taxes and generation-skipping transfer taxes, while simultaneously accomplishing lifetime and legacy goals. Additionally, within the estate planning realm, we work with clients to structure wealth transfer techniques that, though tax focused, honor their non-tax concerns and legacy goals for successive generations.
Succession and Business Planning
Families appreciate the time we take to obtain a working knowledge of their business, as we understand that there is no one-size-fits-all succession plan. Our attorneys take into account ongoing cash flow needs, management continuity, credit facility concerns, tax considerations and family harmony.
Charitable Planning
Families turn to us to assist them with the structuring of long-term charitable gifts, which can involve charitable trusts or family foundations. We also work closely with local community foundations and established public and private charities to implement gifts and planned giving into client’s existing estate plan and beneficiary designations.
Fiduciary and Trust Advisory Services
Individual and professional fiduciaries enlist our guidance to help them do their job more effectively. They appreciate the knowledge and practicality our experienced attorneys bring to financial institutions, individual trustees, executors and charitable entities. Fiduciaries often have to fulfill an assortment of duties to parties who may have differing interests, and our attorneys are dedicated to assisting clients manage the risk involved in balancing those interests. We focus on practical solutions to often complex and multi-layered problems and advise clients on ways to avoid litigation and provide techniques for resolving disputes. I
When disputes arise, we take a practical approach to finding resolutions and ensuring our clients’ financial resources are protected at every step. Recognizing the sensitive and complex nature of these disputes, we first work diligently to understand the core of the problem before seeking alternative resolutions that keep our clients from lengthy litigation proceedings. This includes using private non-judicial settlements, trust modifications, and division of trusts as needed. If it becomes clear that litigation is necessary, we draw on our deep bench of fiduciary litigators to guide our clients to a satisfactory result.
Special Needs Planning
Planning for individuals with special needs involves taking into consideration the individual’s abilities, family configuration, living situation, finances and medical needs. It also sometimes includes establishing a special needs trust or other documents to assist the individual in acquiring or maintaining access to needs-based government benefits such as Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Whether it’s planning for the continued care and quality of life of a child, determining the appropriate structure of a personal injury award or other situations involving individuals with special needs, our attorneys have the experience to help our clients develop a plan best suited for the needs of that individual.