Trusts & Estates

The preservation and transfer of wealth is an important -- and very personal -- component of financial planning. Attorneys in the Trusts and Estates Group offer comprehensive personal and business succession planning services. We provide our clients with the legal representation needed for the orderly disposition of assets both during life and upon death, recognizing that this process involves not only financial and tax concerns, but emotional ones as well.

Our services include, but are not limited to, advice on the following important issues:

  • The transfer of personal and business assets using planning techniques designed to meet a client’s specific objectives within his or her family, while at the same time minimizing the estate and gift tax impact of such transfers
  • The preparation of all legal documents necessary to carry out a client’s estate planning, including:
    • Wills
    • Revocable (“living”) trusts and irrevocable trusts
    • Personal residence and other retained interest trusts
    • Special needs trusts for disabled individuals
    • Life insurance planning
    • Charitable gift planning
    • Family limited partnerships and limited liability companies
    • Durable and springing powers of attorney
    • Living Wills (advance directives, proxy directives and instruction directives)
    • All other related estate planning documents
  • The administration of estates, whether straightforward or complex; probate and ancillary probate; distribution issues; and counseling executors in the exercise of their fiduciary duties
  • The preparation and filing of all estate, inheritance and gift tax returns
  • All aspects of the audit process for estate, inheritance and gift tax returns, from negotiations with federal and state revenue agents through tax court
  • The administration of trusts and advising trustees on their fiduciary duties

The Trusts and Estates Group takes pride in providing efficient legal services while at the same time ensuring that clients fully understand the planning process.  We are listed among the top Trusts and Estates practices in New Jersey in the 2010 inaugural "Best Law Firms" rankings published by U.S. News and Best Lawyers.