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Estate Planning
Estate planning requires a thorough understanding of a wide spectrum of legal issues, including income, gift and estate taxation, general corporate and real estate law and the law of wills, trusts and estate administration. Although a consistent set of legal principles will control how property can be passed to loved ones during lifetime and at death and how that property will be taxed, each individual has a unique situation and a unique combination of objectives and preferences, which usually change over time as individuals' children or grandchildren age, as their careers or businesses evolve and as their mix of assets and investments change. Some objectives (such as preventing children from wasting their inheritances and minimizing taxes) may occasionally be in conflict, depending on what techniques are used.
Gift and estate taxes are merely one kind of cost that is imposed when individuals transfer their property by means of lifetime gifts or at death. For many individuals, minimizing such taxes is a paramount objective, but for others, minimizing taxes is less important than passing assets to specific individuals or charities and preventing those assets from being wasted or dissipated after death. For any given client's unique situation and combination of assets and objectives, there are often two or more strategies that will reduce or minimize gift and estate taxes, but different strategies will impose different costs of their own, in the form of increased complexity, varying up-front costs and potential loss of control. The estate planning attorney's task is to help the client select and understand the combination of strategies or techniques that will most effectively promote the client's objectives.
In our estate planning practice, we work with individuals and families to help them define their objectives and to determine what techniques or strategies will be most acceptable and cost-effective. We help our clients determine the current composition and values of their potential estates and the potential gift and estate tax burden, with or without further planning and based on varying assumptions. We help clients structure their estates and plan lifetime gifts to meet their objectives for current income, future control or security, tax minimization and prudent transfer, all according to each client's preferred time frame, perspectives, budget and tolerance for complexity. We draft the appropriate documents, including Wills, trusts of all types, powers of attorney, prenuptial agreements and documents for lifetime transfers. After the death of a client or a family member, we represent and advise the chosen personal representative of the deceased loved one's estate, supervise the administration of the estate or trust and prepare estate and inheritance tax returns. When we provide estate planning advice, and as the interests and objectives of our clients dictate, we work closely with the client's other advisors outside the Firm (accountants, financial planners or advisers, life insurance agents) and with other attorneys within the Firm, including lawyers from our Family Law, Business Services and Real Estate groups. When gift or estate tax returns are audited by the tax authorities or when disputes arise about the interpretation of a Will or trust or the administration of a trust, we represent the client in the resulting litigation or administrative proceedings, including trials, administrative appeals and (where appropriate) mediation.
ESTATE PLANNING SERVICES:
- Business Succession Planning
- Charitable Gift Planning
- Estate & Trust Administration
- Estate, Trust & Probate Litigation
- Federal Estate & Gift Taxation
- Guardianships & Powers of Attorney
- Living & Irrevocable Trusts
- Planning for Disability & Long-Term Care
- State Inheritance & Transfer Taxation
- Will & Trust Drafting
ESTATE PLANNING RESOURCES:
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Primary Contact:
Jeffrey S. Dible
Biography
317-237-3811
jdible@locke.com
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