For a family business or closely held enterprise, there are real advantages to working with reliable, well-informed attorneys to develop a solid succession plan. Our business succession planning team can help ease the transition to new management, facilitate business growth and curb taxes while providing a secure basis for retirement.

Our attorneys work closely with owner-managed and family-owned businesses to develop a strategic, forward- looking succession framework. We aim to balance our clients’ personal and business goals, preserve existing assets, prevent family discord and set the next generation of company leadership up for success. To this end, we often guide clients in evaluating the choice of entity and ownership structures and inform them of additional financing options, including life insurance arrangements, recapitalizations, buy-sell agreements, non-competition covenants, stock options, restricted stock awards and deferred compensation arrangements.

The succession planning process is often done in incremental steps over a period of months or years. And we counsel clients every step of the way to ensure their succession plan is an integral part of their business strategy,and their legacy is left in capable hands.

Our experienced group assists clients in reviewing charitable giving techniques among organizations they contribute to or feel strongly about and can help them identify the income and estate tax ramifications and benefits of such charitable giving. For example, we may find that participating in a charity’s pooled income fund or creating a private foundation would meet a client’s objectives. Alternatively, we can help a client explore many other options, such as charitable remainder trusts (CRUTs and CRATs), charitable lead trusts, conservation easements, preservation easements, gift annuities, pooled income funds and private foundations.

We help clients carry out their wealth transfer objectives and minimize transfer tax costs through meticulous planning and practical solutions. From last will and testament and trust agreements to living wills and advanced medical directives, our knowledge of estate planning makes us a powerful advocate for the owner of an estate and its beneficiaries. We work closely with each client to structure the estate to provide for the right beneficiaries, curb the associated transfer taxes, and allow for surrogate decision making in financial and healthcare matters in the event of an individual’s incapacity.

Routine work for us includes:
· Last will and testament.
· Trust agreement.
· Durable general financial power of attorney.
· Advance medical directives.

We represent institutional and individual fiduciaries in all aspects of trust and estate administration, from routine probate proceedings to complex fiduciary litigation. Our private planning attorneys advise fiduciaries regarding leveraging available options under state law to achieve desired outcomes, including private trust modification, trust decanting, and court administered modification proceedings. We also help fiduciaries navigate the complex income, estate, gift, and generation-skipping tax issues that arise in the course of trust and estate administration.

We counsel fiduciaries in avoiding conflicts of interest and minimizing exposure for breach of fiduciary duty. When litigation arises, we utilize an interdisciplinary team of litigators and private planning attorneys to represent both fiduciaries and beneficiaries in all phases of the dispute, from pre-litigation negotiations through the conclusion of the appeals process.

Our fiduciary clients often own significant positions in closely-held businesses, including controlling interests. We draw upon the combined expertise of our corporate group and our private planning attorneys to advise such fiduciaries in the fulfilment of their fiduciary duties, including avoiding or appropriately managing conflicts of interest.

Whether the estate requires a full probate administration or a less formal settlement process, our team works on all aspects of estate administration, tailoring each plan to meet our clients’ goals and specifications. On a routine basis, we represent individual and corporate fiduciaries in the estate and trust administration process. We assist with the preparation of documents and court pleadings, federal and state estate and inheritance tax returns, postmortem income and estate tax planning, disclaimers, and much more.

Our team also has a wealth of experience assisting clients in developing, implementing and administering their trusts. In addition to coordinating the transfer of assets to the trust during the client’s life, we assist with the transfer of securities, brokerage accounts and real estate to the trust, while handling various bookkeeping, tax notice preparation and tax return requirements. Often, during the administration of the decedent’s estate, we counsel the beneficiaries of trusts created for their benefit by family members or other persons.

We advise the beneficiaries of an estate or trust as to the nature and extent of their interests. In trust construction matters, contested guardianships and cases involving a breach of fiduciary duties, we provide purposeful, responsive representation to ensure our clients’ property rights are protected via:

. Will contests.
· Trust construction matters.
· Cases involving a breach of fiduciary duties.

Our attorneys and accountants have extensive experience in the representation of fiduciaries, including executors, administrators, personal representatives and trustees. In addition to guiding fiduciaries through the estate and truest administration process, we counsel fiduciaries in postmortem income tax planning, including the preparation of federal and state income tax returns for descendants, estates, trusts and beneficiaries.