Estate Planning

Estate planning involves assisting clients in providing for their needs during life as well as ensuring that their wishes are fulfilled upon death, while minimizing the costs of probate, estate taxes and other costs of administration, to ensure that inheritances left to loved ones can be maximized.

Estate planning involves the use of various planning techniques, including: estate equalization, retitling of assets to avoid probate and conservatorship issues; gifting strategies, and estate reduction strategies.

Estate planning involves the use of various types of documents to implement plans designed to meet the client’s needs including: wills; special needs trusts; revocable trusts, irrevocable trusts; family limited partnerships, powers of attorney; health care proxies; living wills; nominee realty trusts; and documents evidencing transfers of real estate.

Asset Protection Planning

Asset protection planning involves the use of planning techniques to protect a client’s assets from the claims of potential creditors.

Asset protection planning involves the use of various types of documents to implement plans designed to meet the client’s needs including: entity formation documents; corporate articles of organizations; family limited partnership agreements; limited liability partnership agreements; limited liability company operating agreements; and various types of irrevocable trusts.

Business Succession Planning

Business succession planning is generally in the context of family owned businesses and involves developing strategies to ensure for the orderly transfer of ownership interests to the next generation of family members. Business succession planning is designed to ensure the continued successful operation of the business interests being transferred, while minimizing the gift and estate tax consequences of such transfers.

Probate & Estate Administration

Probate & estate administration is the process by which a personal representative is appointed by a Court so that the appointed fiduciary may take control of a decedent’s assets; pay all claims and expenses of the decedent; settle the decedent’s business or personal matters pending as of the date of death; and distribute the decedent’s remaining assets in accordance with the decedent’s will or the state’s intestacy laws if the decedent died without a will.

Residential & Commercial Real Estate

Services include representing buyers and sellers in both residential and commercial real estate transactions: review and negotiation of offers to purchase real estate; review and negotiation of purchase and sale agreements; and attendance at closing for the transfer of residential and commercial real property.

Corporate & General Business Matters

Services include advising clients on: alternative strategies for entity formation; negotiation and drafting of contracts; negotiation and drafting of agreements involving business ventures; negotiation and drafting of employment agreements; and negotiation and drafting of agreements for the purchase and sale of business interests.