Wealth Planning & Management

Many individuals today are growing increasingly concerned with personal wealth growth planning and management. Our clients retain us to provide comprehensive legal counsel regarding their wealth planning, including:

design of their equity compensation structure during the most productive years for maximum wealth accumulation at retirement;

approaches to structuring the transfer of family-owned businesses to the next generation in the most advantageous manner possible to insure a continued revenue stream while minimizing taxes;

estate planning for maximum wealth preservation and transmission.

Our Specialized Services for Executives & Other Professionals

Our extensive experience addressing the needs of executives and professionals with their executive compensation matters and in serving the needs of the business owner has enabled us to acquire a unique perspective on the wealth planning and management issues for executives and other professionals. As a significant part of our practice is dedicated to assisting the efforts of others with every aspect of wealth acquisition and retention throughout their professional lives -- from the days of their first offer of employment and execution of an employment agreement through their decision to retire and thereafter -- we counsel our executive and professional clients regarding their most effective legal strategies for creating, managing, retaining and eventually transmitting their wealth to others.

Our Services for the Executive Working Overseas

In recognition of the needs of our executive clients working overseas, we offer experienced, specialized services in the highly complex field of international estate planning. Our work requires us to use not only our knowledge of relevant U.S. and foreign law involving taxation and property transfers, but also to consider the impact that the estate plan has upon estate administration requirements and procedures in the countries where client assets are held.

Succession Planning for Business Owners

Business owners frequently face the difficult task of structuring an effective exit strategy while preserving their business as an ongoing concern. Our clients hire us to address all issues involved in transferring a closely held business, including handling the complex tax considerations arising from such transfers. We devise innovative estate and financial planning strategies and vehicles designed to meet their particular needs, including:

Employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs );

Irrevocable trusts;

Recapitalizing the business into voting and nonvoting shares and transferring the nonvoting stock to the next generation;

Shareholder agreements;

Gifts of stock.

Our ability to provide comprehensive and efficient business succession services is enhanced by our willingness to work closely with our client's financial advisors and accountants. We have strong ties to various other professional services whom may be called upon when needed.

We conduct a preliminary assessment of their financial and personal goals to ascertain whether the business ownership can be transferred to the next generation or whether it should be sold outright. If we are transferring the business, we will:

develop a comprehensive transfer strategy;

address all income and estate tax aspects involved in the transfer;

conduct a thorough analysis of the business' current and future employee benefits and employment contracts structure;

ascertain the role to be played by the current owner after the transfer;

address the wealth preservation concerns of family members who are not currently involved or are not contemplated to be involved in the business after the transfer.

General Estate Planning

An integral part of our estate planning practice is the effective use of tax palnning that helps clients and their families achieve financial security during their retirement years and to maximize their transfer of wealth to heirs. Our clients choose to work with us because of the breadth and depth of our estate planning experience, our reputation for integrity and also our ability to establish long term client relationships that are built on mutual respect, trust and a genuine commitment to understanding our clients' needs and assisting them to fulfill their personal goals.

In planning any estate we ascertain our clients' personal objectives, conduct a thorough review of their financial picture and consider tax reduction strategies that serve their interests. We work efficiently in servicing our clients' estate planning needs by working closely with their investment and financial advisors.

Our estate planning work includes:

Advising clients on critical tax issues to minimize estate, inheritance, generation skipping, gift and income taxes;

Designing and drafting their last will and testament and trusts and powers of attorney;

Establishing a gifting program;

Establishing guardianships;

Preparing health care power of attorney.

Probate and Estate Administration

We also assist executors and trustees in all facets of estate administration, including:

Probating the estate;

Distributing assets;

Paying legitimate claims;

Preparing and filing tax returns.

The firm uses its extensive litigation experience to successfully litigate estate and trust disputes and devise strategies that effectively protect estates from creditors.

Charitable Giving

We have considerable experience assisting individuals and families with developing and implementing planned charitable giving programs for educational and other tax-exempt organizations. We assist our clients on how to structure their charitable giving programs to obtain maximum tax benefits while fulfilling their overall charitable purposes. We have counseled clients on the establishment and operation of educational foundations.

Tax Exempt Organizations and Foundations

As fellow trustees and board members of educational and health care institutions, members of the firm are acutely aware of the important role that charitable giving through foundations plays in the life of tax-exempt institutions. We are knowledgeable and attuned to the complexities of establishing and managing such charitable foundations. Our experience advising individuals who are considering ongoing charitable giving programs enables us to structure plans and programs that effectively serve a donor�s personal and tax objectives.

Representative Engagements � Wealth Planning and Management

Business Succession Planning � We were retained by the founder of a family business to assist him in planning his retirement and achieving a smooth transition of the business to his three children. As part of the planning process, we addressed issues such as having sufficient money for retirement, management of the business after his retirement, the timing and timetable for transfer of the business and the tax ramifications of all the options. The transfer was particularly complicated and emotional insofar as our client did not want some of his children to be involved in the company after his retirement.

After considerable deliberation, the client decided which child was to manage the business. That child would receive a greater ownership share, while the other children were to receive equal ownership shares. We prepared all the documents necessary to effectuate the transfer, including a management agreement with the son who was to assume control over the business which provided for monetary incentives tied to business� overall performance, a consulting agreement for the founder which gave him an income stream for five years after transfer and a certain degree of control with regard to decision making.

In order to minimize the founder�s taxes, we recommended that the value of the business be frozen during the transfer process. We also prepared an estate plan for the founder that incorporated various tax and business considerations consistent with his stated business and tax objectives.

ESOP � We were retained by three owners of a privately held business in the food industry to create an ESOP for the employees of the business and subsequently to sell part of their ownership shares to the ESOP. The creation of the ESOP was beneficial for all parties involved insofar as it allowed the business to continue as an ongoing concern managed by a team selected by the three owners while assuring that the owners would have the funds necessary for their retirement.

Probate of an Executive�s Estate and Estate Planning for Surviving Spouse - We were retained by the surviving spouse of a senior executive at a national manufacturing company, who had died shortly after the company had been acquired, to ascertain and confirm payment of all executive level and employee benefits to which she was entitled as his surviving spouse, and to represent the estate in probate proceedings.

We negotiated a number of contested issues with the corporate management of the deceased�s former employer, including the amount of service credit to which the deceased was entitled under his defined benefit plan. In our negotiations we insisted on an interpretation of the plan terms that was eventually adopted by the company resulting in obtaining the maximum amount of death benefits to which the surviving spouse was entitled. Our firm also prepared and submitted federal estate and trust returns on behalf of the executor.

Finally, we reviewed and updated the surviving spouse�s estate plan, preparing a will and revocable trust, as well as handling outstanding funding issues for the deceased�s family trust by means of a qualified disclaimer.

Estate Planning for International Executive � We were retained to plan the multi million dollar estate of an American senior executive of an international company. Since he was working overseas on a long term assignment, we had to consider the impact of his foreign as well as his domestic assets and investments. After gathering the necessary financial information from our client, including his net worth, a detailed description of assets, and his estate planning objectives, we developed an estate plan that satisfied his personal objectives while minimizing his estate tax liability.

The estate plan was rather complex due not only to his personal needs and objectives, but also as a result of having to take into account the impact foreign taxes posed upon his estate and subsequent transfer of wealth to his heirs.

Estate Planning for High Net Worth Individual � We were retained by an unmarried woman of high net worth with no living heirs, to plan her estate for transfer to charities of her choice upon her death. We prepared her last will and testament, revocable trust, as well as durable power of attorney and medical directive.

Establishment of an Educational Foundation � Our client, contacted us to assist her with the establishment of an educational foundation for gifted children who came from economically disadvantaged environments. We developed all necessary documentation and were subsequently retained to assist in the administration and management of the foundation.