Estate Planning

Clients can control the allocation of accumulated assets both before and after death through careful planning for the distribution of property to family members.  We deal with the complex network of laws governing gifts, estates and trusts and we use that knowledge to help clients fulfill their short and long-term goals.  Available areas of representation include:

• Simple and Complex Will Creation
• Establishment of Revocable, Irrevocable and Charitable Trusts
• Structure of Family Limited Partnerships
• Estate and Gift Tax Review
• Estate and Probate Administration
• Business Succession and Liquidity Planning
• Conservatorships and Guardianships

For clients interested in maintaining management and control of their estate, while at the same time avoiding probate, protecting family members, ensuring their financial privacy, and obtaining peace of mind, we offer basic estate plans which include revocable living trusts, pour-over wills, powers of attorney for property management, advance health care directives, special needs trusts, children's trusts, and community property agreements.

For clients interested in minimizing the impact of transfer taxes on their estate, we offer simple estate tax savings and asset protection strategies, such as credit shelter trusts and qualified terminal interest property (QTIP) trusts, to more sophisticated transfer tax savings and asset protection strategies, including the use of family limited partnerships, family limited liability companies, buy-sell agreements, estate freeze and valuation discount strategies, charitable remainder and charitable lead trusts, qualified personal residence trusts, irrevocable life insurance trusts, dynasty trusts, grantor retained income trusts, qualified domestic trusts (QDOT), and qualified Sub-S trusts (QSST), among others.