The Law Office of David C. Anderson is a specialty law firm providing comprehensive estate planning for families and individuals. We assist our clients in creating and implementing a thoughtful estate plan, by bringing a creative attitude to their issues. We help them to retain control of their assets, maximize family harmony, create appropriate transfers of assets at minimum cost and protect against losses due to economic or tax challenges.
The firm has specialized in planning for complex estates for twenty years. We counsel families, individuals and their advisors regarding creating, implementing and updating their estate plan. Our legal services include revocable and irrevocable trusts, trust administration, trust litigation, probate, gift and estate tax returns, IRS audits, tax court litigation, asset protection, charitable trusts and donations, wills and healthcare documents. Our attorneys and staff provide a full range of services to help our clients reach their legacy goals.
No “one size fits all” plan in estate planning, so we are committed to providing a customized plan for each of our clients to address their unique family issues. We can’t change “human nature”, but we do use a full range of sophisticated techniques to account for human nature as we work to attain our clients’ goals.
We find that thoughtful planning and careful execution avoid most problems; however, conflicts do arise and we are ready to represent clients in litigation issues including; probate court petitions, disputed inheritances, Trustee duties, and trust administration. We also offer representation for gift and estate tax audits with the IRS and in court, if tax issues are not resolved. While our estate planning typically avoids probate for our own clients’ estates, the estates of many people require a probate and we are experienced in handling all probate matters from simple uncontested transfers to complex administration and will contests.
Typical Areas of Representation Include:
1. Estate Planning: We think it is important that our clients agree with us about the definition of estate planning. Here is our definition: “I want to control and protect my property while I am alive. I want my property to take care of me and my loved ones at all times while I am alive. I want to give what I have to whom I want, the way I want and when I want during and/or after my life. Finally, I want to save every tax dollar, professional fee and court cost that is reasonable to save.
We work to efficiently carry out the personal planning wishes of our clients. If the result of estate planning is a gift or inheritance that does not help our heirs and charities to be more productive, then simply saving tax dollars loses its importance. In our office, personal issues come first. Once they are fully considered, we can discuss how the plan should be structured. Then we employ our knowledge of multiple planning techniques to create elegantly simple solutions to minimize the adverse impact of gift and estate taxes.
2. Lifetime Planning: Estate planning is not a static or one time exercise, and we are involved in the lifetime issues of our clients and their families. We counsel our clients regarding the safety of their core capital and discuss the potential uses of their excess capital. We help our clients with lifetime transfers to children, charities and others. We are also closely involved with the business and real estate transactions of our clients. Business succession planning, portfolio preservation, growth and diversification are important considerations for our clients and we actively help them, along with their other advisors, deal with the tax, economic and strategic positioning of their assets.
Special needs occur in families of all economic means. We counsel our clients to help them to integrate the personal needs of their family and loved ones with their lifetime planning.
3. Charitable Giving: Charitable giving is important for many of our clients and we advise our clients how their charitable activities can enhance their overall legacy planning and goals. We assist them with the analysis of the positive effects of charitable giving and implement trusts and other entities to carry out their overall estate plan. We are knowledgeable regarding the appropriate formation and uses of charitable remainder and lead trusts, gift annuities, private foundations and advised funds and we represent our clients regarding legacy and naming gifts at charitable institutions.
4. Trust Administration and Probate: When one can no longer control his/her estate, we represent successor Trustees and personal representatives with the trust administration or probate of the estate. We carefully advise Trustees and personal representatives regarding their duties and obligations, and work to resolve issues as cooperatively and beneficially as possible. It is important that Trustees and personal representatives receive careful instructions and then oversight to insure that the trust or probate is properly administered. We actively assist our clients to reduce their burdens and arrive at an expeditious, fair and proper result under the terms of the trust or will.
5. Gift and Estate Taxes and Returns: We assist our clients with the analysis of gift and estate taxes and counsel them regarding the proper methods of legally minimizing those taxes. We prepare and file required gift and estate tax returns, or we work with our client’s CPA to optimize filing alternatives and insure the filing of a full and correct tax return.
6. IRS Audits and Tax Controversies: It is inevitable that the IRS will disagree with some of the estate and gift tax filings made by taxpayers. We represent clients in field audits with the IRS and, if the issues are not resolved, we continue representation through the appellate level of the IRS and then to tax court or federal district court, as necessary. The IRS holds positions on a wide range of complex gift and estate tax issues, and we disagree with some of their legal interpretations or applications of the law. We vigorously defend all of our clients’ within the latitudes supported by law.
7. Probate Court: Even with careful planning, problems arise that require court intervention or direction. In these circumstances, we advise Trustees and beneficiaries of their legal rights and duties and to seek court direction where appropriate. Our office represents Trustees to protect them and the trust assets from unjustified attacks by creditors or beneficiaries. We also represent beneficiaries who may be injured by the incompetence or misdeeds of Trustees or personal representatives.
8. Asset Protection: Some of our clients desire protection from unknown and unanticipated future creditors, and we assist our clients in identifying circumstances where they may be subject to excessive litigation risk. If a client feels the need to shield his/her assets from unknown creditors, we provide planning options that will bring them peace of mind. We are experienced in off-shore as well as domestic asset protection planning. Additionally, we provide counsel on how our clients can pass assets to the next generation with protection in place.
9. Real Estate Matters: We have extensive experience in real estate matters. We advise clients with regard to the tax implications surrounding the purchase or sale of both residential and commercial real estate and we assist our clients to structure a purchase, sale, lease, fractional interest transfer or IRC §1031 exchange. In addition to the typical purchase or sale of real estate, our expertise in transferring real estate to younger generations at reduced values is of significant interest to many of our clients.
10. Foreign Nationals: We are pleased to represent non U. S. citizens regarding their planning with U. S. assets and to advise them on the consequences of becoming a U. S. taxpayer. We draft trust provisions to provide qualified domestic trust status for trusts for non U. S. nationals, and we advise our foreign clients regarding the special gift and estate tax rules that apply to them.
