Estate Planning & Probate

Whether your estate planning needs are simple or complex, we can bring peace of mind to you and your family.

Wills, Trusts & Estate Planning

Our lawyers recognize the changing and complex estate planning needs of individuals, fiduciaries and closely held business owners. Development of a well-devised estate plan is critical for ensuring your wishes are followed, without undue burden on your beneficiaries or your wallet. We help our clients make appropriate decisions, both by suggesting and explaining alternatives and exploring the pros and cons of each.

We have the depth of experience to help you manage your wealth and transfer it to future generations and worthy charitable causes, while implementing strategies to minimize gift and estate taxes. If your wealth includes ownership in a family or closely held business, we work to ensure a seamless fit between your estate plan and your business succession plan. We will provide options and opportunities to fit your individual circumstances, and can also assist you with implementing and appropriately funding your plan to minimize probate court involvement. Our services include:

Drafting and implementation of estate planning documents, including wills, trust agreements, powers of attorney, and advance directives,
Integration of the estate plan with business ownership
Trust and probate administration

Probate, Trust & Estate Administration and Guardianships

After the death of a loved one, it can be overwhelming to serve as an executor or trustee of their estate. We have decades of experience handling all types of probate matters, ranging from very small estates to large, complex probate or trust administrations.

If you have been appointed as an executor, trustee, or other fiduciary, we have the knowledge and resources to provide legal guidance and transactional services to help you complete the process smoothly. Our attorneys will work with you to guide you through the process of probating a will and managing an estate in court. We also will assist with the preparation and filing of federal estate tax returns and the difficult web of decisions that accompany that. And, if unexpected problems arise, such as a will contest action or other probate litigation, we are ready to assist.

Our experienced attorneys also will help you understand the guardianship process in probate court. If a loved one is in need of a legal guardian due to diminished mental or physical capacity, we will work with you to set up the guardianship and assist throughout the administration process.