Charitable planning may involve the use of charitable pledges, contributions, trusts, donor advised funds and private foundations. Numerous issues arise concerning the deductibility of charitable contributions, such as the type of property contributed; the degree of control that a donor may exercise in connection with a contribution; and the private foundation operating rules and excise tax regime. We work with in-house lawyers at charities when necessary to form a cooperative plan to achieve the goals of both the client and the charity.
Estate Planning Sample Matters
- Prepared and implemented comprehensive estate plan for foreign entrepreneurs residing in the US including life insurance selection and trust structures
- Assisted Canadian resident to plan for disposition of US assets and addressing Canadian “departure tax”
- Revamped estate plan for professional couple including adjustment to inheritance for advances paid for one child’s education
- Prepared US assets only wills for various foreign clients owning US condominium or cooperative apartments
- Advised on use of a blocker entity to avoid US estate tax for foreign persons on their US real estate investments
We also prepare individual, partnership, trust, estate, gift, corporate and exempt organization tax returns and handle any controversies that may arise with respect to such taxes.
Estate and Trust Administration Sample Matters
- Acted as administrator and attorney for estate of Yemenese individual that included a $1,200,000 wrongful death claim and several parcels of real estate
- Obtained appointment of guardians for minor children in Yemenese family
- Settled claim asserted by ex-spouse of decedent for improperly structured pension division documents and incorrect beneficiary designations
- Prepared estate tax returns and supervised probate of a decedent’s estate in New York, Florida, North Carolina and Jamaica involving multiple parcels of real property and contentious beneficiaries
- Prepared and filed claim of contractor against estate of individual homeowner who died during construction
- Successfully asserted and resolved a claim by the ex-spouse of a decedent to a portion of pension and death benefits based on an improperly drafted divorce settlement from 1985 with counsel not obtaining or serving a QDRO on the plan administrator of the decedent’s pension plan prior to death
- Negotiated and obtained court approval for deed in lieu of foreclosure for two properties of an estate, allowing the beneficiaries to retain the net proceeds from a third property
- Handled a contested accounting by our client-fiduciary with the guardian of the sole distributee contesting legal fees of our client’s prior counsel in the estate administration work
- Handled a formal accounting for the estate of a decedent who died in 1969, leaving one $400 stock position unadministered back then that had grown with splits and dividends to over $120,000 by the time the accounting was done and the funds were turned over to the NYC Comptroller in 2017 by the administrator c.t.a. appointed by the court after the original executor passed away
- Settled Medicaid lien imposed against the estate of the mother of three beneficiaries, on the basis that the City took over two years to present the details of its claim, depriving the administrator of the ability to timely review and contest the validity and amount of the claim