First-Tier Estate Planning:  Wills and Trusts

The law firm has assisted thousands of clients with their estate planning needs.  Often, non-lawyers do not know that in virtually every state in the United States, every Will must be probated to have any legal effect.  Accordingly, if a client dies with a Will, then the Will must go through the formal legal process of probate in order for the terms of the Will to be enforced.   Because Wills are worthless until they have been probated, the law firm rarely prepares Wills for clients.  Instead, the firm will use a trust of some kind.

 There are hundreds of different types of trusts that lawyers use to assist clients.  However, a good lawyer will find the right type of trust to meet the client’s needs.  At RHC&C, the attorneys consider many different types of trusts when analyzing a client’s needs.  However, the “starting point” for a trust is normally either a “simple Living Trust,” or a “Family Protection Trust” (often called a revocable, inter vivos access and spendthrift trust).  These two trusts are referred to as “first-tier estate planning” because one of those trusts is usually the first step in preparing a client’s estate plan. 

The first-tier trust is the foundation of a client’s estate plan.  Some clients require more complex planning in addition to either a Living Trust or a Family Protection Trust.  However, even clients with very large estates will begin the planning process by creating a first-tier trust. 

Second Tier Estate Planning:  Complex Trusts and Other Estate Planning Tools

For clients with larger estates or more complicated family issues, it may be necessary to prepare additional planning documents.  The additional planning may include charitable remainder trusts, charitable annuity trusts, grantor retained annuity trusts, charitable lead trusts, charitable lead annuity trusts, testamentary charitable foundations, family limited partnerships, family limited liability companies, intentionally defective grantor trusts, total return trusts, irrevocable life insurance trusts, IRA conduit trusts, pure trusts, legacy trusts, and other types of trusts depending on the client’s needs.

 Consulting for CPAs and Financial Advisors

The law firm offers consulting services for CPA firms and financial services companies.  The attorneys at RHC&C will assist a CPA firm or financial services firm to assess its liability risks and professional responsibilities with respect to IRS Circular 230, SEC rules, and other federal and state rules that apply to those businesses.  The RHC&C attorneys are experienced in assisting other professionals in taking steps to minimize their risk (while, at the same time, increasing the quality of services provided to their clients).

 Capital Gains Tax Planning

By using 1031 exchanges, inter vivos charitable trust planning, family LLCs, family limited partnerships (FLPs), reserved life estates, transferred life estates, and 1014 tax planning, the attorneys help clients effectively plan to minimize capital gains taxes.

Income Tax Planning

For the firm’s individual clients as well as for clients who own a business, income tax planning can result in a significant tax savings (especially over a period of time).  The firm consults with clients to determine the most appropriate income tax planning methods for the client to use, including analyzing a variety of different LLC structures.

Business Tax Planning

Business tax planning involves a number of different tax components, including payroll taxes, property taxes (for businesses that own real estate), capital gains tax, state and federal income taxes, and more.  Appropriate employee contracts (including the use of noncompete agreements) can help businesses minimize payroll taxes, and other planning techniques (such as maximizing certain allowed expenditures) can help a business legally minimize its tax burden.

International Tax Planning

The RHC&C attorneys have assisted clients with international tax issues in many countries throughout central and south America, the Middle East, Europe and Asia.  International tax issues can be extremely complex because the United States is the only industrialized country in the world that taxes its citizens on income earned in other countries.  It is vital for individuals and businesses with international property holdings to have the right legal advice to help avoid potential double-taxation.

Also, the law firm has many clients with dual citizenship and clients who have relinquished their U.S. citizenship in favor of lower tax nations.  Foreign citizenship raises numerous tax issues that must be appropriately analyzed by qualified professionals.

Asset Protection Planning

The attorneys at RHC&C assist clients with asset protection planning in a variety of ways.  For some clients, asset protection LLCs may be a viable option.  Other clients may need to use a domestic asset protection trust or a foreign asset protection trust.  For many years, the attorneys at RHC&C have been recognized as some of the leading asset protection attorneys in the nation.

The Employee Retention Tax Credit

The Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC) is a special payroll tax refund that is available to some businesses.  The attorneys at RHC&C work with clients to determine if they meet the eligibility requirements for the ERTC, and the law firm assists the clients in filing for that refund.  Also, the law firm works with the client’s accountants as the accountants prepare other tax filings that may be needed to comply with the ERTC rules.

IRA and Retirement Plan Tax Structures

IRAs and other retirement plans are tax deferred assets.  The law firm helps its clients analyze different tax options for withdrawing funds from the retirement plans in a structured way to help minimize taxes.  Additionally, the law firm helps clients structure IRA roll-under trusts or other vehicles that may help minimize the tax burden of an IRA.

Elder Law and Nursing Home Planning

The firm’s attorneys assist clients with planning for the impact of a nursing home or other long term care needs.  The attorneys at RHC&C are familiar with a variety of benefits that clients may be able to qualify to receive (including Medicaid, VA, and more).  The attorneys help clients by crafting an Elder Care Action Plan to assist the client in saving as much money as possible on long term care costs by maximizing the use of otherwise available benefits.

Special Needs Planning

The lawyers at RHC&C have worked with a variety of special needs organizations, and the firm helps clients protect their loved ones who have special needs.  Often, the firm will create special needs trusts, ABLE accounts, pool trusts, (d)(4)(a) trusts, and other planning that helps protect special needs family members by minimizing the impact of financial resources on any government benefits that the special needs family member may be eligible to receive.

Estate Administration

Estate Administration is the process of handling a person’s final affairs.  The process can be quite extensive when tax issues are involved.  The firm’s attorneys assist personal representatives, executors and trustees with efficiently managing the details of a person’s final affairs.  If needed, the law firm can handle virtually every aspect of the administration, including overseeing estate sales, selling real estate and distributing the inheritance to the heirs.  Also, the firm’s attorneys are uniquely qualified to assist families with the many tax issues that are often involved when a family member passes away.