Trust and Estate

The firm has for many years worked with the development offices of universities and other charitable institutions to guide them through the maze of regulatory and tax rules governing the solicitation and administration of charitable gifts. We work on a regular basis with all forms of charitable gifting and have broad experience dealing with the challenges of attracting and administering charitable gifts.

Our trust and estate attorneys work closely with individual and corporate fiduciaries in the administration of estates and trusts. We provide all administrative needs of an individual fiduciary, overseeing the administration of the estate to see that all probate court requirements are met, assets marshaled, obligations paid, estate tax and fiduciary income tax returns filed and taxes paid, estate tax audits conducted, distributions made, benefits collected, retirement benefits planned and distributed, post mortem planning completed to minimize income taxes and the estate closed and settled.

Our goal is to guide the fiduciary through all of the estate responsibilities in a planned and hands on manner to ensure that the administration is accomplished in a smooth, efficient, and expeditious manner to the satisfaction of the fiduciary and beneficiaries.

In addition, our attorneys have substantial experience representing executors, trustees, and beneficiaries in estate litigation matters, most recently receiving a multimillion dollar award after trial in a case involving the mismanagement by the corporate trustee of our clients' trust assets.

We work closely with our clients to determine their planning objectives and develop plans to achieve those objectives. Depending on the needs of different clients, these services can include:

• Development of a dispositive plan for the distribution of assets and the preparation of wills, trusts, and other related documents needed to implement the plan.
• Planning for the distribution of retirement benefits, life insurance, and other specialized assets.
• Creation of revocable trusts.
• Overall tax planning through the use of trusts, the marital deduction, unified credit amounts, generation skipping transfers, powers of appointment, disclaimers, and other tools.
• Use of specialized trusts such as personal residence trusts, grantor retained annuity or unitrusts, and trusts for minors to obtain specific tax savings or provide for specific family needs.
• Charitable planning through charitable remainder or lead trusts, gift annuities, and other charitable gifting mechanisms to fulfill charitable interests, obtain tax savings, and preserve family interests in context of charitable wishes.
• Succession planning for family businesses to preserve value, provide for payment of taxes and liquidity, transfer management and/or value to succeeding family generations, and achieve equity and fairness among the family members.
• Preservation of assets for the elderly and their family through Medicaid planning; planning for those under disabilities to provide for their special needs.
• Preparation of individual and fiduciary income tax returns, gift tax returns, private foundation returns, and other specialized gift and fiduciary returns.
• Powers of attorney and health care documents.

The death or impairment of a loved one can create a host of legal issues. The need to appoint a guardian and determine living arrangements for the incapacitated; to assemble and account for the assets of the deceased; and the proper administration of a trust or estate are common examples of the issues that arise under already difficult circumstances.

Unfortunately, these situations often give rise to mistrust, misconduct, conflict and discord. Far too often, individuals charged with a fiduciary duty to implement the last wishes of the deceased or safeguard the needs of the impaired act instead to benefit themselves. In such situations, there is a need for an advocate to ensure that the true wishes of the impaired or deceased are protected and implemented.

Bond’s trust, estate and fiduciary litigation practice specializes in handling the difficult legal disputes that arise in these situations. The attorneys in the practice group are trusted advocates, with years of practice in Surrogates’ Court and all other state and federal courts that resolve trust and estate disputes. Whether the dispute centers on the validity of a will, the need to account for missing assets, the need for a legal guardian or related issues, our attorneys will lead you through the process and advocate for your interest and the interest of your loved one.