Trusts and Estates Representative Transactions

A representative sample of projects we have handled is provided below.  This information is necessarily brief and generalized to protect the privacy of our clients.

• Creation of family business entities to manage and control family wealth, enable transfer of economic value to lower generations without fractionalizing ownership and control and afford potential valuation discounts for lack of control and marketability.
  
• Charitable transactions to maximize estate and income tax benefits on transfer of appreciated property.
  
• Combination of buy sell agreements, stock transfers, stock option agreements and secured promissory notes to effectuate transfer of closely held businesses among three generations.
  
• Pre-IPO estate plan design and implementation.
  
• Comprehensive estate plans for unmarried opposite sex and same-sex partners.
  
• Design and implementation of comprehensive plans for couples with children from prior marriages.
  
• Planning for couples where one spouse is not a U.S. citizen.
  
• Trust design for beneficiaries with chemical dependency problems and other behavioral issues.
  
• Estate plans for highly compensated executives.
  
• Post-death disclaimer planning to minimize overall effective tax rates, maximize credit for previously taxed property, and maximize family's overall estate tax savings.
  
• Strategic post-mortem planning to minimize transfer tax costs.
  
• Analysis of residential, vineyard, and commercial property transfers to prevent merger and preserve availability of appropriate valuation discounts.
  
  
• Analysis of family business regarding possible sale and reinvestment of business assets, installment payments of estate tax and gift giving program.
  
• Use of family limited partnerships as gifting mechanisms to transfer closely held corporate interests to two generations and accomplish a business succession plan.


• Transfer of large commercial real estate business to younger generation by creation of family business entities and grantor retained annuity trusts while minimizing property tax reassessment.
  
• Sale to Irrevocable Grantor Trust to transfer appreciation to children, grandchildren and more remote descendants without generation-skipping transfer tax.
  
• Representation of Beneficiary in action against Step-Parent/Trustee regarding construction of trust, characterization of property and trust expenditures.
  
• Representation of Surviving Spouse in action to construe trust documents, review Trustee's distribution of Deceased Spouse's separate property and to trace character of assets.
  
• Representation of Trustee in action against Trustee regarding trust investments.
  
• Transfer fractional interest in large family home to next generation by a qualified personal residence trust; preserve parent's ability to live in home by means of tenants in common agreement.