Estate Planning: Wills & Trusts
The firm has long recognized the importance of estate and financial planning and has been in the forefront of this changing area of the law. The firm’s practice has a national scope. Vedder Price’s attorneys combine technical experience in all aspects of estate and financial planning with a strong appreciation of personal objectives and concerns in servicing its clients in this uniquely personal area.
The firm represents clients with diverse personal objectives and financial interests, including individuals with large estates, individuals with modest assets, individuals with personal situations requiring special planning, including planning for family members with disabilities, owners of closely held businesses, corporate executives and professionals. Vedder Price’s estate planning attorneys also represent executors, administrators, trustees and guardians. In addition, the firm provides estate and financial planning counsel to businesses and not-for-profit organizations, as well as other professionals who consult Vedder Price with respect to their own clients.
The firm uses state-of-the-art software packages for matters such as estate and trust accounting, research, analysis of planning alternatives, the preparation of tax returns and documents, and financial and tax projections. In addition, Vedder Price publishes a periodic Estate Planning Newsletter, provides clients with other mailings and has a data bank that maintains information about clients' estate planning documents.
Vedder Price's estate planning practice includes the following estate and financial planning areas:
General Estate Planning
Estate planning involves planning for the disposition of an individual’s assets, during life and at death, in a manner that achieves personal objectives while reducing taxes and other costs. When preparing an estate plan, Vedder Price’s attorneys attempt to develop a thorough understanding of the client’s asset holdings, family situation and personal and financial goals. The attorneys then make planning recommendations and implement those recommendations by preparing wills, trusts, powers of attorney and other appropriate documents and counseling clients about the proper asset-ownership arrangements.
Estate & Gift Tax Practice
Because a failure to take taxes into account often can result in the partial or total disruption of an individual’s objectives, effective tax planning is an essential element of the planning process. Tax savings should not take precedence over a client’s personal goals and in most cases Vedder Price’s estate planning attorneys are able to structure plans that achieve both objectives. Depending on the circumstances, a number of techniques may be used, ranging from outright gifts to sophisticated irrevocable trusts. In addition, Vedder Price’s attorneys prepare all types of tax returns and represent clients before administrative and judicial authorities.
Charitable Planning
The firm represents many individuals who are charitably inclined. A number of techniques are used to permit such individuals to benefit their favorite charities in a tax-efficient manner. In appropriate cases, these techniques also can be used to achieve a variety of personal and financial goals, such as increasing cash flow during lifetime or transferring wealth to successive generations free of estate or generation-skipping transfer taxes. Vedder Price also assists not-for-profit organizations in developing charitable giving programs and brochures, and in presenting estate and financial planning seminars.
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