ESTATE PLANNING SERVICES

Regardless of the size of your estate, unless you have either a will or trust in place when you pass away, chances are that your assets will not pass to the people you want to have them the way you might have hoped they would get them. Additionally, it is often wise to pass assets to children in trust so that it is managed for them until they are responsible. By executing a “simple” will, you can clarify who you would like to take what, and when you would like them to get that. However, because of the need for court approval, probate of a will is usually more expensive than administration of a “simple” revocable trust.

In addition to allowing you to identify who you would like to take what, when, without having to subject your estate to probate, a revocable trust (with a bypass trust or credit shelter trust and a marital trust or QTIP trust) can be utilized to achieve substantial estate tax savings, at least until December 31, 2012. (While recent estate and gift tax law changes have added a great deal of certainty for the next 2 years, absent Congressional action before December 31, 2012, those changes will expire and the law which was in effect back in 2001 will come back into effect, emphasizing the need for “basic” bypass or credit shelter trusts, marital trusts and QTIP trusts.)

While any of the aforementioned wills or revocable trusts can help you achieve your goals and provide a solid plan to retain your assets, we can also assist you in establishing irrevocable life insurance trusts (“ILITs”), qualified personal residence trusts (“QPRTs”), grantor retained income trusts (“GRITS”) and grantor retained annuity trusts (“GRATS”) if any of those irrevocable trusts would be desired and appropriate.

We can help you identify which, if any, of these trusts would be best suited for you, and assist you in implementing your decision.

The creation of living wills and other health directives allows individuals to determine the type of care that they receive, and to delegate decision-making authority regarding your health care to others. We can help you ensure that the right persons are named and the decision-making authority they are granted is in accordance with your desires.

Durable Powers of Attorney

In the event you should become disabled, these documents can be useful to ensure that all assets are funded into your revocable living trust and that all of your personal affairs are in order, and to delegate this power to others. Like the help we can offer with respect to your Living Wills and Health Care Directives, we can assist you in ensuring that the right persons are named and the decision-making authority they are granted is in accordance with your desires.

Whether coupled with a business buy-sell agreement or deemed necessary for liquidity or estate creation/supplementation, we are familiar with all forms of life insurance, and how it can be applied in any particular estate plan to achieve a particular objective.

Support and Educational Trusts

Support and educational trusts for children and other family members can be designed to minimize income taxes while providing assurance that resources will be available to your heirs and beneficiaries in accordance with your desires. If the circumstances dictate that such a trust would be appropriate, we can assist you in drafting and implementing such a trust.

Special Needs Trust

These trusts are extremely important when dealing with beneficiaries with special needs. If a child is on public assistance or may be in the future, they will lose these benefits if assets are not held in a special trust. So, your documents need to be tailored in these situations.

Family Business Planning, Including Transition Planning for Closely Held Corporations, Partnerships and Limited Liability Companies

If necessary, we can work with you to create or reorganize a business structure to minimize or defer estate taxes and/or implement a “buy-out” agreement or insurance program to ensure that enough liquid assets will be available to pay any taxes which cannot be eliminated or deferred. We are intimately familiar with the formation of family limited partnerships (“FLPs”), joint ventures, and limited liability companies (“FLLCs”) to develop and/or operate real estate or other business projects while substantially reducing the family’s potential income and estate tax and preserving control.

Planning for Family Business Buy-Outs and Insurance Programs

Based on our intimate familiarity with all forms of business entities (corporations, partnerships, LLCs and joint ventures), we are highly qualified to assist you in designing and implementing buy-sell and stock restriction agreements, and various insurance programs, which can be used to fund those buy-outs.