Estate Planning

Estate planning is a process that involves enhancing present assets, minimizing current taxes, sheltering death benefits and controlling and protecting assets now and upon death of the estate owner. We help our clients organize and determine their planning objectives and then develop an overall estate plan to meet their goals. Regardless of a client's net worth, careful planning allows our clients to make provisions to control the inheritance of their assets and to provide for a smooth transition of those assets upon death. As a highly sophisticated small-sized law firm, our clients benefit by the one-on-one relationships they develop with our attorneys.

The effectiveness of our estate planning practice is due to a large part in the firm's strong tax orientation. Careful planning is critical in light of the ever-changing gift, estate, and generation skipping and income tax rules. The expertise of our experienced, tax-oriented attorneys allows us to effectively implement innovative tax planning for our clients to reduce and minimize potential death taxes.

Our firm's services include extensive experience using the following estate planning techniques:

Last Will and Testament

Wills for Individuals and Married Couples
Wills with Disclaimer Credit Shelter/Bypass Trust Provisions
Marital Deduction and Credit Shelter/Bypass Trust Wills
Wills with Martial Trust Provisions (QTIP)
Wills with QDOT Provisions for Spouses who are not US Citizens

Trusts

Trust for Minors
Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts
Survivorship or Second-To-Die Irrevocable Insurance Trusts
Generation Skipping Trusts
Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts
Grantor Retained Unitrusts
Qualified Personal Residence Trusts

Charitable Giving Plans

Charitable Remainder Annuity Trusts
Charitable Remainder Unitrusts
Charitable Lead Annuity Trusts
Charitable Lead Unitrusts
Charitable Trusts Established Upon Death
Private Foundations

Succession Planning for the Family or Closely-Held Business

Family Limited Partnerships
Family Limited Liability Companies
Private Annuities
Self-Canceling Installment Notes
Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts

Estate Planning for Retirement Benefits

Stock Options
Beneficiary designations of 401(k) plans and IRAs

Multi-Generation Gift-Giving Programs

Prenuptial Agreements to Protect Family Assets

Planning for Incapacity

Durable Powers of Attorney
Health Care Proxies
Living Wills
Revocable Trusts
Guardianship arrangements

Preparation of Gift and Generation Skipping Tax Returns