Norris McLaughlin’s Estate Planning and Administration & Wealth Preservation attorneys combine deep knowledge and practical experience in Estate and Trust law along with all aspects of state, federal, and international tax law as it relates to individuals, estates, and trusts.   We represent a broad range of clients including high net worth and ultra-high net worth individuals and families, executives, and business owners.  Our goal is to assure that family assets, including family businesses, pass to future generations and remain protected from claims of creditors and non-family members, in the most tax-efficient manner possible.  

Our Estate Planning and Administration & Wealth Preservation services include the following:

Estate Planning 

• Preparation of Wills, Powers of Attorney, and Advance Directives for Health Care
• Preparation of Revocable and Irrevocable Trusts
• Planning for the disposition of insurance proceeds and retirement plan benefits in a tax-efficient manner
• Preparation and negotiation of Prenuptial, Postnuptial, and Cohabitation Agreements
• Special Needs Trusts
• Initiating Guardianship proceedings and administering Guardianships
• Structuring of transfers that achieve optimal use of available credits against and exemption from the gift, estate, and generation-skipping taxes.

Estate and Trust Administration

• Coordination of the probate of the will or the intestate estate and the valuation and collection of estate assets
• Distribution of assets and providing of additional support to beneficiaries per applicable law
• Preparation of estate, gift, generation-skipping, income, and inheritance tax returns
• Handling of federal estate tax audits and state inheritance proceedings
• Representation of clients before the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Tax Court
• Post-mortem tax planning
• Probate Court litigation – will contests, interpretations of wills and trusts, guardianship issues, and estate and trust accounting objections, in the following jurisdictions:
  • New Jersey Surrogate’s Court and Superior Court
  • Pennsylvania Orphans’ Court
  • New York Surrogate’s Court

Wealth Preservation

• Implementation of various kinds of Dynasty Trusts for future generations 
• Formulation and setting in place of tax-efficient sophisticated business succession techniques, including sales to Intentionally Defective Grantor Trusts and Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts  
• Structuring of lifetime gift-giving programs to maximize use of annual and lifetime transfer tax exclusions and minimize transfer tax costs, including the creation of Spousal Lifetime Access Trusts
• Assisting clients to achieve both charitable and income tax reduction objectives through implementation of Charitable Lead Trusts and Charitable Remainder Trusts
• Establishing various kinds of Charitable Trusts and Private Foundations, and facilitate Donor Advised Funds and Designated Funds

Elder Care Law

Our experienced elder care law attorneys go beyond traditional planning to address the needs of seniors and individuals with disabilities. Our services blend estate planning with long-term care planning and include the following:

• Medicaid Planning
• Medicaid Trusts
• Long Term Care

Non-Profit Entities

Our attorneys provide guidance and many services to our non-profit and tax-exempt clients, including the creation of non-profit entities, preparation of IRS applications for federal tax-exempt status, fundraising registration and financing guidance, strategies for planned giving and endowments, and the like.

Estate Planning for Immigration Clients

At Norris McLaughlin, our wealth preservation, estate planning & administration attorneys collaborate, where applicable, with our immigration attorneys to develop the specialized documents and processes needed to protect undocumented individuals and their families, comprising what we call a Deportation Family Protection Package. We assist our clients in creating a package of documents to provide legal authority to a caregiver for medical and educational purposes, to appoint a standby or temporary guardian for children, and to ensure children’s assets are protected.