Trusts & Estates
Our Trusts and Estates Group provides sophisticated estate, gift and charitable gift planning for clients of the firm, including the preparation of wills and various types of revocable and irrevocable trusts and entities. We also guide fiduciaries and beneficiaries through the trust and estate settlement and administration process, including probate and contested estate matters. Our attorneys frequently practice before the IRS, probate and surrogate’s courts and state tax authorities. We tailor solutions for our clients that maximize tax efficiency while achieving our clients’ wealth transfer goals.
Our Trusts and Estates Group works closely with our Tax Group and Corporate Group in order to provide estate and tax planning services for clients with closely-held business interests.
Estate Planning
Our estate planning practice is dedicated to assisting clients with the full range of services required by individuals and families to efficiently transfer wealth, including the development of tax-efficient and practical wealth management strategies, lifetime wealth transfer planning, charitable gift planning and business succession planning, including the preparation of wills, revocable living trusts, irrevocable trusts and entities. We advise high net worth clients in all aspects of estate planning, both domestic and international. We pride ourselves on providing sophisticated yet practical solutions that mitigate income, estate, gift and generation skipping transfer tax while achieving our clients’ wealth transfer goals. We strive to provide counsel with clarity and detail to minimize the risk of subsequent family disputes and/or disputes with tax authorities.
In addition, we routinely assist business owners with succession planning and the transition of control of family businesses, and we work with our clients to establish structures best suited to accomplish these objectives, including trusts, family partnerships, limited liability companies and corporations. We often work closely with our Tax Group and/or Corporate Group when planning for our business owner clients.
Estate and Trust Administration
We are also intimately involved in the administration of estates, trusts, guardianships, conservatorships and contested probate matters. We regularly assist fiduciaries and beneficiaries with the preparation and filing of probate documents, personal and fiduciary income tax returns and estate tax returns, and help facilitate the orderly settlement of decedents’ estates. We work efficiently and expeditiously to resolve the probate process. We are attuned to the sensitive nature of estate administration work, and work closely with our Tax, Corporate and Real Estate Groups to effectively implement our clients’ wishes.