Our estate plans involve creating structure and order regarding how your assets are distributed and a plan for medical care and guardianship, if necessary.  Without proper planning, your estate may be subject to significant taxes upon passing. These taxes could reduce the value of your estate and limit what you can leave behind for your beneficiaries. Estate taxes can be especially burdensome for individuals with illiquid assets, whether from real estate, restricted investments, or family businesses.

By learning more about you, your wealth, and your wishes, we will design an estate plan to meet your unique needs and ensure your estate is structured in the most tax-efficient way, providing you with the lifestyle and control you require.  Some of the strategies we employ include:

• No Estate Tax Planning: Every option has drawbacks when it comes to the estate tax, and sometimes, your assets or your lifestyle are such that it makes more sense not to try to avoid the estate tax.
• Lifetime Gifting: We can help you take advantage of the annual gift tax exclusion and lifetime exemption to transfer assets to your heirs, lowering the size of your taxable estate and locking in current asset values.
• Trusts: By establishing tax-advantaged trusts, we can help you reduce your estate’s taxable value while providing flexibility in managing and distributing your assets.
• Charitable Giving: Charitable donations, whether through trusts or other gifting strategies, can significantly reduce your estate tax while allowing you to support causes that matter to you.
• Family Limited Partnerships: These structures can help you retain control of family assets while reducing the taxable value of your estate.
• Life Insurance Planning: Life insurance policies can be strategically structured to offset estate tax liabilities, ensuring that your heirs receive the full benefit of your wealth.
• Generation-Skipping Trusts: These specialized trusts allow you to pass wealth directly to grandchildren or other generations, skipping a generation of estate tax.

Estate tax laws are complex and ever-changing, and family dynamics can significantly impact the practical aspects of estate tax planning. We understand that every family is different and offer personalized advice and solutions to help protect your wealth and provide the greatest benefits to you and your heirs.