The protection of assets and their transfer to future generations are among the most important goals an individual can have during his or her lifetime. The objective of our Wealth Planning practice is to provide the very best quality of advice and legal work regarding the management and transfer of property, and the administration of a decedent's estates, trusts and other fiduciary accounts. Our attorneys use their extensive experience to help clients - including individuals, corporate fiduciaries, and charitable and non-profit entities - attain their goals for themselves and their families, or organizations, while minimizing applicable income, gift and estate taxes.
Our practice is focused in five areas of service:
- Estate business-tax planning
- Administration of trusts and estates
- Charitable foundations and non-profits
- Fiduciary investment consideration
- Orphans' Court litigation
The work of our Wealth Planning Group includes planning and document preparation for the management and transfer of an individual’s estate during lifetime, upon incapacity, and on death. This includes advice on the income, gift, generation-skipping and death tax considerations directed to achieve tax savings within the individual’s planning requirements. Additionally, clients are counseled on the use of powers of attorney, living wills, revocable and irrevocable trusts, and court guardianship proceedings.
Estate and trust administrations are other important parts of the Group’s work. Our attorneys integrate both the family and business concerns of our clients into the estate planning process through the preparation of family partnership and limited liability company agreements, shareholder buy-sell agreements, and marital agreements. When family-related issues arise in a business setting. Our attorneys take great care to assure that we address the needs of family-owned businesses. We help clients understand and accomplish what is necessary for keeping the business in the family, despite the death or disability of family members who are active in the business. We develop and implement various kinds of agreements and compensation arrangements for business owners, including agreements for the economic participation of family members who are not active in the business.
While principally handled in the jurisdiction of the offices where our estates lawyers practice, our attorneys are able to handle administrations of estates and trusts with property in other parts of the United States and abroad.
Members of the Wealth Planning Group are active in local, state and national estate planning and tax groups, both as participants and as lecturers. Our attorneys understand and address the significant personal and family issues that are involved in the estate planning process. They endeavor always to implement the client's personal and business goals in a tax-efficient manner.