In estate planning, we view our role as counselor-at-law. Our lawyers counsel individuals on meeting their estate planning goals within the confines of the federal transfer tax regime. We work on an inter-generational basis with an eye towards an end result that will preserve the assets of the family for multiple generations. Clients have a desire to protect and support what they are passionate about—family, church, community charities, and other causes. We design workable plans to meet our client’s goals.
We utilize various documents and techniques, including the following:
- Wills
- Revocable/Living Trusts
- Powers of Attorney/Advance Directives for Health Care
- Insurance Trusts
- Gifting Trusts
- Intentionally Defective Grantor Trusts
- Limited liability companies/Limited partnerships
- Conservation Easements
- Self-cancelling installment notes
- Qualified Personal Residence Trusts
- Disclaimers/Renunciations
- Charitable gifting
Our clients remain confidential, but some brief examples of our work include these:
- Assisted multiple clients with creating conservation easements to ensure that large timber tracts each remained as a “working forest” in perpetuity.
- Administered several estates that left legacy gifts for those charitable causes in which the client passionately believed.
- Created family owned entities that allowed for the management of family assets, reducing risk of the loss of control of assets due to creditors or divorce.
- Tax free division of family owned businesses to allow the “next generation” to separate on a friendly basis.