planning practice focuses on maximum conservation and
protection of our clients’ estates and related assets – with
minimum tax and other adverse consequences.
We handle the administration of trusts, estates and other
related family entities, the drafting of wills and estate plans,
and the creation of succession plans for privately owned
businesses. In all such transactions, our expertise includes
sophisticated structuring of alternatives involving taxes,
generation-skipping issues and redirection of legal liability
risks.
By their nature, our estate planning services are tailored to the
individual requirements of each client. Depending upon client
needs, our attorneys can counsel on a single estate planning
issue or can advise on a broad range of personal and
business goals, and implement the steps necessary to
achieve them.
The minimization of taxes is a major objective of our estate
planning services. Income taxes, estate taxes, gift taxes and
generation-skipping transfer taxes all have a significant
impact on the accumulation and disposition of our personal
assets. The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation
Act of 2001, with its complex changes to the tax code and
phasing out of the estate tax and generation-skipping tax, has
made such tax considerations even more important for estate
planning. We understand the complexities of such a change
and make sure our clients are protected.
We can be especially helpful to the owners of family
businesses. Working with the members of our family law
practice, Ross & Shoalmire estate planning attorneys can
counsel clients regarding the difficult matters of transfer of
ownership or control and resolving liquidity concerns while
treating family members equitably. If divorce proceedings
complicate the planning for ownership transfer, we have the
knowledge and experience to ensure that the business owner’
s wishes remain paramount.
Effective estate planning should be the culmination of a
lifetime of hard work and achievement. Ross & Shoalmire
estate planning attorneys understand how important an
effective wealth transfer strategy is – and know how to
represent each client's unique interests in creating one.
