Estate Planning and Probate

Our firm offers assistance in all aspects of Estate Planning with an overarching goal to insure that your personal matters and financial affairs are appropriately handled and structured. Our estate planning services include the drafting of wills and trust agreements. We utilize traditional and sophisticated planning tools, to include advanced trust vehicles, to develop a wealth transfer plan that minimizes the tax impact from income, gift, estate and generation-skipping transfer taxes.

We can also help you create various healthcare and financial directives, including medical powers of attorney, living wills, and financial powers of attorney and appointment.

Throughout our planning, we will seek to develop thoughtful solutions to issues related to family business succession, second marriages, and dependents with special physical or emotional conditions.

We also work with clients to help them realize their charitable objectives by structuring a charitable giving plan. We can advise clients on the tax implications of charitable gifts and on the establishment of charitable entities, including private foundations and charitable trusts.

Our attorneys appear regularly before the States' surrogates courts to handle the probate of estates and, when necessary, to challenge wills offered for probate. The firm's attorneys have significant experience litigating probate contests in these courts.

We can assist clients with a variety of estate planning and administration services, including:

• Revocable trusts and wills
• Durable powers of attorney
• Health care powers of attorney and living wills
• Charitable trusts
• Family limited partnerships
• Succession planning for closely held businesses
• Estate and trust administration advice
• Distribution of assets to beneficiaries
• Preparation of federal and state estate tax returns