Practice Areas & Industries: Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC

Practice/Industry Group Overview

Wealth. Plans. Protection.
Trusted Advisor.

Attorneys practicing in this area are skilled at protecting valuable assets and increasing net worth through insightful planning.

Clients face important planning issues to preserve the wealth they have created for their families in the face of confiscatory estate and related taxes. Attorneys in the Estate Planning and Probate Group are well versed in planning techniques that assist clients in coping with state/federal income and estate tax issues, including lifetime giving plans involving family limited partnerships, living trusts, grantor retained annuity trusts and charitable trusts. Attorneys in the Group work with clients to protect their businesses and assets through the use of limited liability entities such as limited liability companies, limited partnerships and corporations. They are skilled in helping clients form and implement estate plans that take into account tax issues, human factors and financial management issues. The goal of the Group is to create a comprehensive estate and retirement plan that addresses tax, family, retirement, disability and financial objectives for each client.

The informed and efficient administration of estates is also an essential part of the Group's practice. The administration of a decedent's estate offers many opportunities for income and estate tax savings through careful planning. Valuation issues are often critical in larger estates and the Group's attorneys have developed strong working relationships with valuation experts for many types of property. Working with such experts, the Group attorneys are able to support realistic valuations that take into account all appropriate considerations, including often overlooked factors favorable to clients.

Representative Matters

• Created and coordinated plans for multiple generations of families involved in closely-held businesses with family wealth ranging from $5 million to $50 million. Transactions involved lifetime transition of wealth and business succession planning to maximize and leverage gift, estate and generation-skipping tax exemptions and enhance asset protection. Utilized strategies such as family limited partnerships, limited liability companies, sales of discounted interests to intentionally defective income trusts, and use of trusts such as grantor-retained annuity, qualified personal residence, charitable lead, charitable remainder and irrevocable life insurance.
• Represented widow in litigation involving funding of marital deduction bequest.
• Implemented leveraged Employee Stock Ownership Plan as tool for succession planning for closely held corporation, including design and preparation of plan documents, procurement of tax exemption for trust and representation of company in multi-million dollar financing transaction.
• Coordinated post-mortem estate planning for estate, including a series of disclaimers for beneficiaries, to eliminate substantial estate tax liability.