Trusts and Estate Planning Experts

Katz&Co provides trusts and estate planning that will let you control how your estate is distributed during your life and after death.

You’ve worked a lifetime to build wealth. Have you considered what will happen to your hard-earned assets through retirement and in the event of your death?

Without trust and estate planning, your assets will be distributed according to state law and not necessarily according to your wishes. Having a plan in place is crucial if you want to minimize the estate tax burden on your beneficiaries, distribute the maximum amount possible to your beneficiaries with minimum delay, meet each beneficiary’s specific needs, and be sure that your assets are distributed in the manner of your choice.

Katz&Co has for over 30 years helped individuals with trusts and estate planning that has made a difference to them and their families.

But planning for the distribution of your assets following your death is just one aspect of a comprehensive estate plan. Another is your retirement and the accumulation, conservation and enjoyment of the assets you’ve acquired throughout your lifetime. The continuity of a family owned business is yet another consideration. Will your business successfully transition from one generation to the next with minimal stress and financial upheaval?

Trusts and Estate Planning

Katz&Co’s estate and trust planning professionals will work with you to design a customized estate plan. By customizing your estate plan to your particular needs, our trusts and estate planning specialists can assist in managing and conserving your estate while reducing tax liabilities. Our estate and trust planning professionals will utilize an assortment of planning vehicles such as family limited partnerships, trusts, and charitable entities. You will receive hands-on, personalized attention from knowledgeable, experienced professionals who will:

Trusts and Estate Planning Process

Review wills, trust instruments and schedules of assets
Estimate estate taxes under current estate plans, if any exist. Strategize alternatives and quantify potential tax savings.
Examine any family owned business issues, including valuation, alternative methods of paying estate tax and the transfer and/or disposition of business interests
Plan for assets with unique estate tax attributes, including retirement plan and life insurance benefits
Identify potential liquidity problems caused by federal and state estate taxes, generation-skipping transfer tax, debts, cash bequests, necessary funds for the continued operation of the family business, probate, administration costs, etc.
Develop a lifetime gift program utilizing appropriate vehicles, such as family limited partnerships, charitable trusts, and qualified personal residence trusts
Help you communicate and discuss your plan with your family to ensure there is a mutual understanding of your plan and a commitment to it
Ensure the proper implementation of the estate plan
Prepare estate, gift, fiduciary and non-profit tax returns
Review and update your plan as family or business situations change

Depending on your situation, establishing a trust as part of a comprehensive wealth transfer plan can be one of the most effective ways of lowering your taxes and diversifying your assets, while providing for your family and leaving a legacy for the future. Using an assortment of trusts and estate planning vehicles such as charitable remainder trusts, grantor annuity trusts, personal residence trusts, family partnerships, credit shelter trusts, marital deduction trusts and revocable lifetime trusts, we will work with an experienced attorney to draw up all legal documentation.

You can find out more about our trusts and estate planning services by following the links above or email or phone our Bethesda Accountants for more information.