Estate Tax, Gift Tax, and Generation-Skipping Tax

As part of Icard Merrill’s unwavering commitment to providing comprehensive estate planning representation, our tax attorneys have the knowledge, and experience to effectively counsel clients regarding an array of estate tax matters. These include wills, trusts, family limited partnerships, qualified personal residence trusts, grantor-retained annuity trusts, charitable lead and annuity trusts, charitable remainder trusts, and the creation of foundations and gift-giving programs intended to reduce estate taxes.

The cost to transfer lifetime accumulations to selected beneficiaries can be substantial. Our skilled tax attorneys explain the options available for minimizing or reducing the costs associated with asset transfer and planning for the potential of changing transfer tax laws and help clients assure the orderly and efficient transfer of property to beneficiaries and provide advice regarding estate planning strategies to minimize income, gift, estate, and generation-skipping transfer taxes. For example, the generation-skipping transfer tax (GST tax) is a transfer tax on property passing from one generation to another generation that is two or more generational levels below the transferring generation, including gifts made to grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and even more distant generations – in other words, gifts that “skip” the next generation. Properly executed, exemptions can successfully allow for the transfer of significant wealth between generations.

Additionally, our tax litigators provide experienced legal counsel to estate and trust personal representatives and beneficiaries regarding federal and state tax issues, including representation before all taxing authorities, and probate courts.