Practice Area
Trusts & Estates
Estate planning and business succession for individuals and family-owned companies.
The trusts and estates group designs and administers wealth transfer plans for individuals, families, and the closely held businesses many of them own — work that sits at the intersection of tax law, family dynamics, and long-term governance.
For business owners, the group’s succession planning frequently overlaps with the firm’s corporate practice: structuring buy-sell agreements, family limited partnerships, and ownership transfers designed to move a company to the next generation, or to a third-party buyer, without triggering unnecessary tax cost or family conflict. For individuals and families, the group builds estate plans ranging from straightforward wills to complex multi-generational trust structures, and advises on charitable and philanthropic vehicles for clients who want their planning to reflect more than tax efficiency.
When administration becomes contested — a will challenge, a fiduciary dispute, a beneficiary disagreement — the group works alongside the litigation practice to resolve the matter with as little damage to family relationships as the dispute allows.
“The best estate plan is the one your family never has to think about at the worst possible moment.”
What We Handle
- Wills, trusts, and estate planning
- Business succession planning
- Estate and gift tax strategy
- Trust and estate administration
- Charitable and philanthropic planning
Who Handles This
Attorneys in this practice group
Track Record
Related notable matters
Litigation & Dispute Resolution 2023
Shareholder Dispute Resolution for a Family-Owned Distribution Company
Resolved a multi-year shareholder dispute among the principals of a family-owned distribution company through mediated buyout, avoiding a trial that risked the company's operations.
Corporate & M&A 2024
Multi-Generational Succession Plan for a Closely Held Manufacturing Business
Designed a multi-generational estate plan and family limited partnership structure for the founding family of a closely held manufacturing business.
How We Help
Trusts & Estates across every industry we serve
Technology
Healthcare
Manufacturing
Real Estate & Hospitality
Financial Services
Nonprofit & Education
Family-Owned Business
Trusts & Estates
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Full Practice Area by Industry Reference
- Trusts & Estates × Technology
- Structures pre-liquidity estate planning and equity-gifting strategies for founders ahead of a sale or public offering.
- Trusts & Estates × Healthcare
- Plans asset protection and succession structures for physician-owned practices and their principals.
- Trusts & Estates × Manufacturing
- Designs ownership succession and estate-tax planning for principals of closely held manufacturing companies.
- Trusts & Estates × Real Estate & Hospitality
- Structures estate and gift planning around real property holdings, including qualified personal residence trusts.
- Trusts & Estates × Financial Services
- Advises high-net-worth principals of financial firms on trust structuring, philanthropic vehicles, and wealth transfer.
- Trusts & Estates × Nonprofit & Education
- Counsels donors and institutions on planned-giving vehicles, charitable trusts, and endowment gift agreements.
- Trusts & Estates × Family-Owned Business
- Designs multi-generational succession plans, family limited partnerships, and buy-sell agreements funded by trust structures.