Areas of Practice

Tax Planning

Taxes are a fact of life. Good tax planning arranges your business and personal affairs to generate the least amount of taxes.

Corporate and Business Tax Planning
- Reducing the amount of taxable income
- Lowering tax rates
- Controlling the time when the tax must be paid
- Claiming any available tax credits
- Controlling the effects of the Alternative Minimum Tax
- Avoiding the most common tax planning mistakes
Individual Tax Planning
- State and federal income tax planning
- Analyze income streams and taxes
- Use of losses and deductions
- Compliance with reporting requirements
- Retirement planning
- Charitable planning
- Residency planning
- Passive vs Active
- Audit defense
Estate and Gift Tax Planning
- Preserve wealth for future generations
- Maximizing efficiency of federal gift and estate tax exemption
- Gifting campaigns
- Trust planning
International Tax Planning
- IRS compliance
- Investment structuring
- Asset repatriation
- Currency issues
- Tax treaties
- Customs
Nonprofit Planning
- Formation and administration of Nonprofit entities
- Charitable deduction planning
- Trusts with charitable leads or remainders
- Charitable beneficiaries and annuities
- Donor advised funds
Tax controversies at the federal, state and local level
- Disputes between taxpayers and taxing authorities
- Audits
- Complex and “grey” areas of tax law

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Business Planning

Structuring business administration and transactions to maximize gain and minimize taxes

Corporate Governance
- Planning structure of company directors and managers and arranging orderly succession
Entity Formation and Structuring
- Formation of state law business entities
- Partnerships, LLCs, LPs, LLPs, corporations,
- Prepare necessary business and registrations filings
- Analyze tax effect of entity choice
Closely-Held Businesses Administration
- Corporate records
- Minutes for corporate actions
- Preparation, Review and Negotiation of Contracts
- Business Transactions
- Secured Transactions
- Stock Options
- Employment Agreements
- Business Succession
- Retirement Planning
- Venture Capital Projects
- Joint Ventures
- Bank Financing
Sales
- Prepare and negotiate agreements
- Due diligence
Intellectual Property
- Trademarks and Service Marks
- Copyright
- Trade Secrets
Commercial Lending

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Mergers & Acquisitions

Consolidation or purchase/sale of closely-held business interests and assets.

Mergers
- Prepare and negotiate agreements
- Tax-free structuring
Acquisitions
- Prepare and negotiate agreements
- Tender Offers
- Due diligence
- Bank financing
- Tax-free structuring
Reorganizations
- Consolidations
- Spin-offs
- Split-ups
- Tax-free structuring

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Trust and Estate Planning

Arranging for the orderly disposition of wealth at death

Estate Planning
- Wills
- Powers of Attorney
- Naming beneficiaries of your wealth
- Appointing executor, guardian, agents
Trust Planning
- Revocable “Living Trusts” to avoid probate
- Insurance Trusts
- Trusts for minors
- Special needs trusts
- Lifetime or testamentary
- Dynasty trusts for multi-generational planning
- Integrates with overall estate plan
- Use of trusts to carry out estate planning goals
- Protecting property from beneficiary creditors
Trust Administration
- Advice to trustees
- Income tax reporting
- Recording trustee acts
- Amending trust agreements to accomplish settlor’s goals
Gift Planning
- Making gifts to reduce taxable estate
- Employ tax-efficient strategies
- Use of trusts to control and protect wealth for future generations
Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax
- Separate tax on gifts and testamentary transfers skipping a generation
- Avoiding unwanted tax when wealth skips a generation
Charitable Entities and Charitable Giving
- Create charitable legacy
- Formation, registration, and tax exemptions for non-profit entities
- Organize entities as trusts or corporations
- Integrate into estate plan
- Deductible income or estate tax
Business Succession Planning
- Business buy/sell agreements
- Liquidity and funding issues
Guardianships
- For minors or incapacitated persons
Educational Funding
- Lifetime or testamentary gifts
- Use of trust to achieve specific educational goals
Marital Agreements
- Prenuptial Agreements
- Postnuptial Agreements
- Protect family wealth and inheritances from divorce

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Wealth Preservation and Asset Protection

Analyzing risks and employing strategies to protect assets from future creditors, including creditors from divorce, lawsuits, and judgments. Deters overzealous creditors and offers negotiation leverage. Integrate asset protection plan with family financial and estate planning goals.

Offshore Asset Protection Trusts
- Settlors retains beneficial interest and limited administrative powers
- Uses law of offshore jurisdictions sheltered from impact of US judgments
- Strongest form of asset protection
- Grantor reports income on personal returns
Domestic Asset Protection Trusts
- Settlors retains beneficial interest and limited administrative powers
- Uses law of US state with self-settled, asset protection trust law
- Can be combined with income tax planning
Limited Liability Business Entities
- Take advantage of state law protections against debts of a company
- Isolates risk
Creditor Protection Planning
- Estate and financial planning strategies to insulate assets from creditors of current and future generations
- Integrate with business succession and estate plan

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Estate Administration

Administer estate
- Probate Will
- Appointment of Executor
- Payment of estate debts and distributions to beneficiaries
- Establishing trusts created in Will
- Settlement agreements among beneficiaries
Returns and Filings
- Federal estate and state death tax returns
- Prepare and file interim and final estate accounts
- Appear in court on motions

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Real Estate

Unique issues arising from the purchase, sale, and rental of real property

Real Estate Tax Planning
- Realty Transfer Tax
- 1031 like-kind exchanges
Sales and Purchases
- Prepare deeds and related documents
- Prepare and negotiate agreements
- Bank financing
- Secured transactions
Real Estate Rental
- Prepare and negotiate lease agreements
- Commercial and residential
Development
- New construction
- Subdivision and planned communities
Commercial Lending

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Employee Benefit Planning

Advice regarding employee benefit plans and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)

Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)
- Compliance
- Prepare documentation
- Supervise administration
Employee Stock Plans
- Stock ownership plans
- Stock option plans
- Prepare documentation
- Supervise administration
Retirement Planning
- Income tax planning
- Defined benefit pension plans
- Defined contribution retirement plans
- Health and welfare benefit plans.
- Qualified plan supervision
IRS correction program filings
- Correcting defective plans to bring into compliance

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