Tax Planning
Estate planning for business owners and high-net worth individuals is much more complicated than basic estate planning. Estate planning is a life-long process for wealth-management, retirement planning and creation of a family legacy. The law firm of Altman & Associates, specifically, Gary Altman has a background in high-level tax planning for corporations and wealthy individuals. His L.L.M degree in taxation from Georgetown University along with over 15 years of tax experience has given him the unique knowledge necessary to handle this complex area of law. Mr. Altman applies this experience to help individuals and families pass on their wealth in the most tax efficient manner to include all aspects of income, gift and estate tax planning and establishing charitable trusts and private foundations. Examples of such techniques would include:
- Testamentary and Living Trusts
- Life Insurance Trusts (ILIT’s)
- Qualified Personal Residence Trusts (QPRT’s)
- Generation Skipping Trust’s (GST)
- Dynasty Trusts
- Intentionally Defective Grantor Trust’s (IDGT)
- Grantor Retained Annuity Trust’s (GRAT’s)
- Charitable Remainder Unitrusts and Charitabe Remainder Annuity Trusts (CRUT’s and CRAT’s)
- Grantor Retained Income Trust’s (GRIT’s)
- Charitable Lead Trust’s (CLT’s)
- Family Limited Partnership’s (FLP’s)
- Family Limited Liability Companies (LLC’s)
The law firm of Altman & Associates provides tax advice for our estate planning clients who own sole proprietorships, general and limited partnerships, corporations and limited liability companies, from organization through operation to succession. Because every client’s situation is unique, there is no single cookie-cutter approach a lawyer can follow to create the estate plan that is right for your unique situation.
Non-Citizen Issues
Non-citizens are subject to a different set of tax rules than U.S. citizens. A non-citizen status for estate and gift tax purposes is different than their status for income tax purposes. Failure to properly plan may result in the non-citizen only receiving a partial estate tax exemption and no marital deduction. Almost everything owned could possibly be taxed upon death before being distributed to a spouse or child. We are experts at developing strategies and taking advantage of the treaty protections (should they exist) of the home country. We can assist the non-citizen spouse with the creation of special trusts to qualify for the marital deduction (QDOT) or use lifetime gifting strategies so that no marital deduction is necessary. We advise on the titling of property and advise clients on how to establish foreign trusts to keep their property from being subject to the U.S. tax code and advise on how to best leave their property
