Overview

Since its founding, Bond has worked with clients to develop and implement customized plans to transfer assets and protect wealth with minimal tax cost.

Bond’s attorneys are skilled at working with clients to identify their unique needs and create plans that meet those needs. Our customized plans include designing wills, trusts, beneficiary designations and other documents needed to transfer and protect assets. Bond also works with small business owners to design and implement business succession plans.

We are committed to helping you transfer personal and business assets to families and other beneficiaries in a prudent manner and we meet this commitment by offering our clients thorough estate planning and administration services. These services reflect our experience and sensitivity to the difficult challenges estate planning and administration presents to many families.

Our clients range from individuals of modest wealth to those of significant wealth, from younger clients building a career to older clients who have already amassed their wealth, from clients who are professionals or employees of larger entities to those involved in family businesses. We consider our role to be more one of counselors than of technicians. While we provide you with our experience, skills and technical knowledge to ensure successful results, we do not lose sight of our responsibility to counsel you with respect to the best interests of you and your families. We strive for an ongoing relationship knowing that family needs change and estate plans evolve.

Extending our trust and estate practice areas beyond families, we also counsel fiduciaries, owners of closely held businesses, universities and other charitable and tax-exempt organizations. Our services in these areas include preparation of income tax returns and accountings, preparation of a wide range of business agreements, and the formation and administration of charitable trusts and private foundations. We also assist clients in a wide range of court proceedings in all courts throughout New York and Florida.

Times change, and trust and estate regulations and laws change with the times. What doesn’t change is our commitment to serving you, whether as an individual client, business or institution, according to your unique needs, and to provide our attention and skills to ensure optimal results and your satisfaction.

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.