estate planning

Dean M. Roberts, a Member of law firm Norris McLaughlin, P.A., will present “Estate Planning and Trust Ownership” to shareholders of Morningside Heights Housing Corporation. The closed presentation will take place Saturday, February 9, 2 – 3:30 p.m., and again Thursday, February 28, 7 – 8:30 p.m., in New York City.

Roberts will discuss how estates are handled in the state of New York, what shareholders can do to create a more seamless process to protect their assets, and the new forms and uses of trust now available to shareholders of Morningside Gardens. Throughout the presentation, Roberts will answer questions from attendees.

Roberts focuses on real estate litigation with a sub-specialty in the representation of cooperative housing corporations and condominiums.  He has handled all facets of condominium and cooperative ownership from sponsor/purchase and conversion to representing well-established tenant-shareholder Boards of Directors.  Roberts also represents cooperative corporations and moderate-income co-ops in all areas of litigation, including landlord/tenant litigation.

Through his involvement with the Coordinating Council of Cooperatives, Roberts is active in court reform efforts and the cooperative movement.  In his community, he works to promote affordable housing as a director of the Cooperative Development Fund Board of Advisors and other housing programs.

Roberts earned his J.D. from Rutgers School of Law – Newark in 1987 and his B.A. from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Rutgers College, in 1982.

Posted in: Cooperative ("Co-op") and Condominium Law, Dean M. Roberts, News | Tags: Assests, Co-op, Co-operatives, Dean Roberts, estate planning, New York co-op, shareholders, Trust Ownership, Uses of Trust

James J. Costello, Jr., a Member of law firm Norris McLaughlin, P.A., and Co-Chair of its Trust, Estate and Individual Tax Group, will be a featured speaker at “Using Trusts in Estate Planning and Asset Protection,” sponsored by The National Business Institute (NBI).  The seminar will take place at the Courtyard Princeton on Thursday, November 15, and Friday, November 16, from 9:00 am to 4:30 pm.

The seminar will address the effective use of trusts in estate planning and asset protection. Presenters will explore a variety of planning tools that will help tailor a trust that fits the client’s specific situation. CLE, CPE, IACET, and PACE credits are available. For more information or to register, please visit the NBI’s web site here.

Costello focuses his practice on estate planning and administration, litigation and disputes among beneficiaries, general federal and state tax law and controversies, and the formation, dissolution, purchase, sale and mergers of all types of closely-held business entities.

Costello represents individuals in all aspects of general and sophisticated estate planning, including drafting wills, lifetime and testamentary trusts, powers of attorney, health care directives, prenuptial agreements and co-habitation agreements, employing sophisticated strategies when warranted matters include family limited liability companies (“LLCs”), sales to intentionally defective grantor trusts, spousal lifetime access trusts (“SLATS”), dynasty trusts and charitable trusts.  His representation of fiduciaries covers all aspects of estate and trust administration, including preparation and filing of federal and state estate and income tax returns; representation in IRS and New Jersey Division of Taxation audits; litigation and disputes among beneficiaries; preparation and filing of federal and state estate and inheritance tax returns; and defending those returns on audit.

Costello has published articles and lectured extensively to civic and professional groups on estate planning, elder law, and tax law topics.  He is a former Trustee and Advisory Board Council member of Alzheimer’s New Jersey (formerly known as the Greater New Jersey Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association), and a former Trustee and Secretary of the Bernardsville Library Foundation, Inc. and currently serves on the Vestry of the Church of St. John on the Mountain in Bernardsville. Costello earned his J.D. from Western New England College School of Law and his M.L.T. from Georgetown University Law Center.

Posted in: Estate Planning & Administration, James J. Costello, News | Tags: asset protection, estate planning, Estate Planning and Administration, James J. Costello, Jr., National Business Institute, NBI, Trusts

Robert E. Donatelli, a Member of law firm Norris McLaughlin, P.A., will present an estate planning seminar for People First Federal Credit Union at 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, October 24, at People First’s Allentown office.

Donatelli will discuss the issues that can arise when estate planning, what happens when there is no will, death taxes, revocable living trust, special needs trust, powers of attorney, health care power of attorney, and Medicaid v. Medicare.

Donatelli has over 40 years of experience in estate administration, wills and trusts, and real estate law. He helps clients with all aspects of estate planning and administration, from estate planning – will preparation, tax issues guardianships, powers of attorney, living wills, living trusts, and special needs trusts – to estate administration, the process of probate, valuing, and managing the estate, executing decisions on guardianship and conservatorship. Donatelli is AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell®. He is a member of the Ethics Board of the City of Allentown and a former solicitor of the Register of Wills of Lehigh County.  He is active in the Bar Association of Lehigh County, where he served as President in 1985, and is a member of the Barristers Inn of Court, where he also served as President. He received his J.D. from the University of Kansas School of Law, and A.B. from Muhlenberg College

Posted in: Estate Planning & Administration, News, Real Estate & Finance, Robert E. Donatelli | Tags: Estate Administration, estate planning, People First Federal Credit Union. Bob Donatelli, Power of Attorney, Trusts, Wills

James J. Costello, Jr. will be a presenter at the seminar “Using Trusts in Estate Planning and Asset Protection.” The 2 day seminar is sponsored by the National Business Institute and will take place on Thursday, November 15 and Friday, November 16 from from 9:00 am to 4:30 pm at the Courtyard Princeton. CLE and CPE credits are available.

The seminar will guide attendees through how to effectively use trusts for estate planning and asset protection. Attendees will explore a variety of planning tools that will help them tailor a trust that fits their client’s specific situation.

• Find out how to select the best trust option for each unique situation.
• Protect retirement accounts with the use of IRA trusts.
• Use trusts to help clients qualify for Medicaid while protecting their assets.
• Discover ways to structure special needs trusts so beneficiaries still qualify for public benefits.
• Learn how to minimize client’s tax burdens with the use of defective trusts.
• Properly handle the administration of a trust.
• Clarify who the client is to avoid conflicts of interest and other ethical violations.

The basic to intermediate level seminar is designed for professionals involved in structuring and administering trusts:

• Attorneys
• CPAs and Accountants
• Trust Officers
• Tax Managers
• Wealth Managers
• Paralegals

To register, please click here.

Posted in: Events | Tags: asset protection, estate planning, James J. Costello, Jr., National Business Institute, trust

Jill Lebowitz, a Member of the law firm Norris McLaughlin, P.A., will present “Digging Deeper into the New Jersey Inheritance Tax” for the New Jersey Institute of Continuing Education (NJICLE) Estate Planning Summer Institute. The two-day program, co-sponsored by the New Jersey State Bar Association Real Property, Trust, and Estate Law Section, will be held on Thursday, July 19, and Friday, July 20, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., at the New Jersey Law Center in New Brunswick.  The Institute offers 13.4 CLE credits and is also available as a live webcast.  For more information and to register, visit njsba.com or call NJICLE at 732-214-8500.

Lebowitz devotes her practice to estate planning, trust and estate administration, and counseling tax-exempt organizations.  She is experienced in drafting sophisticated estate planning instruments and counseling individuals and families regarding estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer tax issues.  Lebowitz advises clients on the development of both simple and complex estate plans, philanthropic planning and business succession issues.  She drafts estate planning instruments including wills, revocable living trusts, insurance trusts, dynasty trusts, charitable trusts, grantor retained annuity trusts, qualified personal residence trusts, shareholders agreements, limited liability company operating agreements, durable powers of attorney, and advance directives for health care.

In addition, Lebowitz handles all aspects of trust and estate administration, as well as fiduciary litigation and guardianship matters.  She prepares federal and state estate and inheritance tax returns and federal gift tax returns.  She is knowledgeable in drafting disclaimers and agreements regarding post-mortem planning, informal distribution agreements, judicial fiduciary accountings, and handling court proceedings to effect final distribution of estates and trusts.  She also counsels individuals and financial institutions regarding their fiduciary duties as personal representatives and trustees, including advising on legal and tax issues, as well as issues in connection with administering trusts.  She also assists individuals, families, and fiduciaries with all aspects of fiduciary litigation.

Lebowitz regularly advises tax-exempt organizations regarding federal tax exemption issues, state charitable registration filings, and governance issues.  On behalf of tax-exempt organizations, she drafts nonprofit corporation documents and prepares federal applications for tax-exempt status, state charitable registration filings, and state property tax and sales tax exemption applications.  She has extensive experience advising individuals, family and corporate foundations, and tax-exempt organizations on nonprofit corporate governance, private foundation excise taxes, domestic and international grant-making, executive compensation, excess benefit rules and intermediate sanctions, unrelated business income, scholarship programs, and fundraising issues.

Lebowitz is a Fellow of The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), a national organization of approximately 2,500 lawyers elected to membership by demonstrating the highest level of integrity, commitment to the profession, competence, and experience as trust and estate counselors.  She has also been selected for inclusion on the list of New Jersey Super Lawyers in the Estate & Probate section.

Lebowitz is the Immediate Past Chair of the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Real Property, Trust & Estate Law Section and continues to serve on the Section’s Board of Consultors.  She is also the Immediate Past President of the Greater Middlesex/Somerset Estate Planning Council and she continues to serve on its Board of Trustees.

Lebowitz earned her LL.M. in Taxation from New York University School of Law, her J.D. from Rutgers University School of Law—Newark, and her B.A. from New York University.

Posted in: Estate Planning & Administration, Jill Lebowitz, News | Tags: CLE, CLE credit, estate planning, inheritance tax, Jill Lebowitz, New Jersey, New Jersey Attorney, New Jersey State Bar Association, NJICLE, NJSBA, real property, Trusts

Jill Lebowitz, a Member of law firm Norris McLaughlin, P.A., has been elected as a Fellow of The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC).  ACTEC is a national organization of approximately 2,500 lawyers elected to membership by demonstrating the highest level of integrity, commitment to the profession, competence, and experience as trust and estate counselors.  Fellows are peer-elected based on specific criteria, including having extensive experience in the practice of estate planning, trust and estate administration and probate law, an outstanding reputation, exceptional skill, and substantial contributions to the field through writing, teaching and bar association leadership activities.  ACTEC Fellows work locally and nationally to improve and reform estate, trust, and tax laws, procedures, and professional responsibility.

Lebowitz devotes her practice to estate planning, trust and estate administration, and counseling tax-exempt organizations.  She is experienced in drafting sophisticated estate planning instruments and counseling individuals and families regarding estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer tax issues.  Lebowitz advises clients on the development of complex estate plans, philanthropic planning, and business succession issues.  She drafts estate planning instruments, including wills, revocable living trusts, insurance trusts, dynasty trusts, charitable trusts, grantor retained annuity trusts, qualified personal residence trusts, shareholders agreements, limited liability company operating agreements, durable powers of attorney, and advance directives for health care.

In addition, Lebowitz handles all aspects of trust and estate administration, as well as fiduciary litigation and guardianship matters.  She prepares federal and state estate and inheritance tax returns and federal gift tax returns.  She is knowledgeable in drafting disclaimers and agreements regarding post-mortem planning, informal distribution agreements, judicial fiduciary accountings, and handling court proceedings to effect final distribution of estates and trusts.  Lebowitz also counsels individuals and financial institutions regarding their fiduciary duties as personal representatives and trustees, including advising on legal and tax issues, as well as issues in connection with administering trusts.  She also assists individuals, families, and fiduciaries with all aspects of fiduciary litigation.

Lebowitz regularly advises tax-exempt organizations regarding federal tax exemption issues, state charitable registration filings, and governance issues.  On behalf of tax-exempt organizations, she drafts nonprofit corporation documents and prepares federal applications for tax-exempt status, state charitable registration filings, and state property tax and sales tax exemption applications.  She has extensive experience advising individuals, family and corporate foundations, and tax-exempt organizations on nonprofit corporate governance, private foundation excise taxes, domestic and international grant-making, executive compensation, excess benefit rules and intermediate sanctions, unrelated business income, scholarship programs, and fundraising issues.

Lebowitz is the Immediate Past Chair of the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Real Property, Trust & Estate Law Section and continues to serve on the Section’s Board of Consultors.  She is also the Immediate Past President of the Greater Middlesex/Somerset Estate Planning Council and she continues to serve on its Board of Trustees.

Lebowitz has also been selected for inclusion on the list of New Jersey Super Lawyers in the Estate & Probate section.

Lebowitz earned her LL.M. in Taxation from New York University School of Law, her J.D. from Rutgers University School of Law—Newark, and her B.A. from New York University.

Posted in: Estate Planning & Administration, Jill Lebowitz, News | Tags: ACTEC, American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, estate planning, Jill Lebowitz, Trusts

Norris McLaughlin, P.A., is pleased to welcome Michelle M. Forsell, formerly of Tomlinson Forsell, as Of Counsel in the firm’s Estate Planning & Administration Group.

“As the chapter of Tomlinson Forsell comes to a close with the retirements of Allen and Barry Tomlinson, I am pleased to be joining Norris McLaughlin, P.A., where I can offer a deeper and wider bench here in East Greenville.  Our clients can expect the same faces and receive the same services to which they have grown accustomed,” said Forsell.

A lifelong resident of Pennsburg, Montgomery County, Forsell focuses her practice primarily on estate planning and administration.  The former Solicitor to the Borough of East Greenville, she is the immediate past president of the Bar Association of Lehigh County, an American Bar Association Fellow, Program Chair for the Villanova Law Inn of Court, and a Montgomery County Arbitrator.  She is active in her community, serving on numerous boards including Frederick Living, a Mennonite Health Services not-for-profit continuing care retirement community; The Gulack Foundation; and the Upper Perkiomen YMCA.  Forsell also teaches law courses at Cedar Crest College in Allentown.  She will continue her practice in her current office location in East Greenville, Pennsylvania, formerly the offices of Tomlinson Forsell.

“Michelle’s practice will complement and expand the Estate Planning & Administration practice we have in our office in Allentown and has the community focus that we value at NMM,” said Matthew R. Sorrentino, Chairman of Norris McLaughlin, P.A..

Forsell earned her B.A. from West Chester University of Pennsylvania in 1999, her J.D. from Villanova University School of Law in 2003, and her M.A. from Temple University in 2006.  She is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania; the U.S. District Court, Eastern and Middle Districts of Pennsylvania; the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals; and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Posted in: Estate Planning & Administration, Michelle M. Forsell, Municipal Law, News | Tags: estate planning, Michelle Forsell, Norris McLaughlin, P.A.

Abbey M. Horwitz, an Associate with the law firm Norris McLaughlin, P.A., has been elected to the Board of Trustees for P.G. Chambers School (PGCS) in Cedar Knolls.  Her two-year term began January 1, 2018.

PGCS helps children with disabilities lead full, productive lives; develop confidence in their own unique abilities; and engage in the community through education and therapy, serving ten counties in northern New Jersey.  Horwitz has been a member of the Development Committee for the past year-and-a-half and plans to continue.  Her daughter has been a student at the school for the past four years.  For more information about PGCS, visit www.chambersschool.org.

Horwitz, a resident of Cedar Grove, practices primarily in the area of estate planning and administration.  She is experienced in preparing wills, revocable and irrevocable trusts, durable powers of attorney, advance directives for health care, and other estate planning documents.  She is also experienced in administering estates and trusts, including counseling executors and trustees; preparing estate, trust, and guardianship pleadings; preparing estate and trust accountings; preparing estate tax returns; handling estate tax audits; and preparing releases and waivers for distributions from estates and trusts.

In addition, Horwitz has experience preparing corporate and LLC filings, including certificates of incorporation, articles of organization, bylaws, operating agreements, and IRC 501(c)(3) filings.

Horwitz earned her J.D. from New York Law School, where she received the Carbonell Fellowship in Law and Policy, in 2006, and her B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis in 2000.

Posted in: Abbey M. Horwitz, News | Tags: Abbey Horwitz, Bridgewater Lawyer, estate planning, New Jersey Attorney

Victor S. Elgort, a Senior Member of Bridgewater-based law firm Norris McLaughlin, P.A., will speak at “LLCs: Beyond the Basics,” a one-day course presented by the National Business Institute (NBI) discussing how to capitalize on the advantages of LLCs on Monday, November 6, 8:00 a.m. – 4:40 p.m., at the Holiday Inn in Princeton.

Elgort will highlight advantageous uses of LLCs, including using an LLC to hold real property, hold tangible personal property or intangible assets, as a valuation “freeze” entity, in estate planning, to hold life insurance policies, for venture capital projects and corporate joint ventures, and in lieu of corporate subsidiaries.  For more information or to register, visit the NBI website.

Elgort is Chair of the firm’s Tax Group, practicing out of all three Norris McLaughlin, P.A. locations, as he is admitted in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. His practice concentrates on business law and tax planning, including the structuring of partnerships and joint ventures, tax-saving real estate and business exit strategies, executive compensation, and domestic and international estate planning matters.

Elgort organized and created the first limited liability company in New Jersey.  He has authored the standard form operating agreements and other documents for limited liability companies published by Julius Blumberg, Inc., including both the forms for use in New Jersey and the generic forms offered nationwide for limited liability companies.

In addition, Elgort is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel.  He frequently lectures at tax planning courses, including continuing education seminars. He has authored extensive material published by the NBI, Lorman Education Services, Professional Education Seminars, and other national seminar companies, including “Partnerships, LLCs and LLPs: Organization and Operation,” “Asset Protection Planning in New Jersey,” “Limited Liability Companies in New Jersey,” “Transferring Business Wealth,” “Administration of the Estate in New Jersey,” “Planning Opportunities with Living Trusts in New Jersey,” “New Jersey Probate: Beyond the Basics,” “A Practical Guide to Estate Administration in New Jersey,” and “Family Limited Partnerships and Limited Liability Companies in New Jersey.”

Elgort received his undergraduate degree with honors from Rutgers University, his J.D. with honors from Cornell University, and his LL.M. in Taxation from New York University. Elgort is included in the Trusts and Estates section of The Best Lawyers in America and has been named by his peers as a New Jersey Super Lawyer in the Tax section.

Posted in: Estate Planning & Administration, News, Victor S. Elgort | Tags: Corporate Joint Ventures, estate planning, Freeze Entity, Life Insurance, LLC, National Business Institute, NBI, Valuation, Venture Capital, Victor Elgort

Judith A. Harris, a Member with Norris McLaughlin, P.A., recently participated in the fourth and final of Lehigh Valley Health Network’s (LVHN) 2017 financial, estate, and tax planning seminars to physicians at its Cedar Crest and Muhlenberg Campuses.  This year’s presentations are part of a multi-year effort of the LVHN Office of Philanthropy to make such planning seminars available to its physicians and other employee groups of LVHN.

Harris’ panel presentation focused on estate and tax planning, as well as asset protection strategies for physicians and their families.  The presentation, entitled “Financial Grand Rounds: Comprehensive Planning for Physicians,” also included Robert H. Brown, CLU©, ChFC©, AEP©,  a financial planner and the proprietor of Lehigh Valley Investment Group, Retirement and Income Specialists, and was introduced and led by Dr. John Jaffe, of Physician Integration Strategies LLC, who is former Executive Medical Director of the Lehigh Valley Physician Organization.

Jane Wrisley, the Vice President of the LVHN Office of Philanthropy, believes the Financial Grand Round presentations are a service to physicians.  Wrisley observed, “They work so hard for our patients, we want to provide a convenient opportunity for them to attend an educational forum.”

Harris has over 30 years of experience in the areas of wills and trusts, estate planning, estate administration, and taxation.  In addition to creating estate plans from the most basic to the most sophisticated wills, revocable trusts, powers of attorney, and living wills, Harris’s areas of practice include business matters involving corporations, partnerships, and limited liability companies and planning for business succession.  Harris’s practice also includes charitable trusts and foundations; and representation of estates, trusts, and beneficiaries in disputes before the Orphans’ Court.  She routinely handles the resolution of tax controversies for businesses and individual taxpayers before various divisions (Civil, Criminal, and Collection) of the Internal Revenue Service, and the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue.  These cases often involve the resolution of estate, business, and individual audits; or collection efforts such as liens, levies, and garnishments by the IRS and state taxing authorities.  In her work as an estate planning attorney, Harris frequently structures the optimal transfer of a client’s wealth and business interests to younger generations in order to minimize tax consequences.  Harris earned her LL.M. in Taxation from Villanova University School of Law in 1991, her J.D. from American University in 1986, and her A.B., cum laude, from Bryn Mawr College in 1983.

Posted in: Estate Planning & Administration, Judith A. Harris, News | Tags: Allentown Attorney, Estate Administration, estate planning, Judith Harris, Lehigh Valley Lawyer, LVHN, physicians, taxation