Trusts and Estates

Estate and Business Succession Planning

Our attorneys have experience in complex areas of estate planning including the important income and transfer tax consequences of this practice area. We will speak with you at your initial consultation about your particular planning goals and concerns. After the consultation, we will discuss with you the best options and strategies for the implementation of your estate plan and provide you with advice regarding the tax consequences of the planning vehicles selected.

We prepare wills and testamentary trusts, revocable and irrevocable lifetime trusts, powers of attorney, health care proxies and living wills. The estate planning practice focuses on tax reduction strategies as well as personal issues confronting our clients in structuring their estate plans. Where appropriate, we will recommend advanced estate planning vehicles such as irrevocable life insurance trusts, grantor retained annuity trusts, qualified personal residence trusts, charitable remainder or lead trusts and family limited liability companies or partnerships. We also provide advice and planning on the disposition of retirement benefits and life insurance proceeds through appropriate beneficiary designations.

Whiteman Osterman & Hanna has a variety of practice groups and, where appropriate, our trusts and estates attorneys work with attorneys in other practice areas. We have substantial experience in organizing and advising public charities and private foundations, and in creating complex trusts as part of charitable giving programs. We have also advised clients on large and complex real estate and corporate transactions and have considerable experience in creating family limited partnerships and limited liability companies as part of an overall estate plan for the succession of wealth and ownership and control of family owned businesses.

Trusts and Estates Litigation

Our Trusts and Estates Practice Group regularly represents clients in all aspects of estate and trust litigation, including will contests, asset discovery proceedings, contested accountings and tax controversies with the support as necessary of attorneys from our Litigation and Appeals Practice Group. The combination of our expertise in these complex and technical areas of the law and the support from seasoned litigators often allow disputes to be resolved favorably without prolonged litigation.