Wills, Trusts & Estate Planning

A well-crafted estate plan sets the foundation for a smooth and tax-efficient transition of wealth

A well-crafted estate plan sets the foundation for a smooth and tax-efficient transition of wealth between spouses and from one generation to another. Effective estate planning involves overcoming many legal, financial and family-related complexities.

Practice Overview Services Associated Lawyers Recent Projects

Practice Overview

Effective estate planning involves many legal and financial complexities. Steinbergs LLP's Wills, Trusts and Estate Planning Group works to ensure our clients minimize income tax and estate administration tax (formerly known as probate fees) thereby maximizing the value of their estates.

Our lawyers are strategic thinkers and effective problem solvers who help our clients avoid estate disputes and family fights -- particularly with blended families. After all, our lawyers also have families, so appreciate the importance promoting family harmony. We have significant experience advising clients with respect to estate planning, estate administration and disputes involving estate, trust, power of attorney and guardianship matters.

Our Wills, Trusts and Estates Group consists of tax lawyers who work closely with our clients' accountants and financial advisors to ensure the tax-efficient passage of wealth to our clients’ families and other beneficiaries. As part of a full-service firm, Steinbergs' Wills, Trusts and Estates Group works closely with our Business, Tax, Real Estate and Family Law Groups to ensure all of our clients’ objectives are achieved, whether they be business, tax or personal. Our focus on the entrepreneurial community makes us uniquely suited to advise family business owners on succession planning.

Services

Our services -- all geared towards minimizing taxes -- run the gamut of planning before death to post-mortem items.

Planning Before Death

This includes:

Preparing wills;
Powers of attorney for property and personal care;
Testamentary family trusts;
Inter-vivos family trusts;
Estate administration tax planning (formerly known as probate fees);
Families comprised of U.S. citizens; and
Shareholders’ agreements.

After Death

This includes:

Probate applications for Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustees;
Post-mortem planning, including butterfly reorganizations (i.e., divisive reorganizations), “pipeline” reorganizations and other types of reorganizations to reduce income tax;
Implementation of transfers, dispositions and/or distributions of assets and all related matters with respect to wills and family trusts; and
Implementing the sale provisions of shareholders’ agreements.

Steinbergs will advise beneficiaries and/or family members of their rights and entitlements in estate, trust, power of attorney, and guardianship matters. We advise estate trustees, estate trustees during litigation, trustees, attorneys for property and personal care and guardians with respect to their duties and responsibilities.

Our lawyers have a wealth of experience working with U.S. advisors (both law and accounting firms) with respect to cross-border planning for families comprised of U.S. citizens and residents and clients purchasing vacation properties in the U.S. Further, we have estate dispute mediators and litigation counsel in house capable of handling such issues.

Testimonials

"Eli has a wealth of knowledge to offer. He was quick and extremely diligent when he set up my family trust."
Morris Levy

"I am impressed with Marc’s expertise in the law involving estate planning, as well as his sensitivity to the intricacies of complex family dynamics and strategic thinking."
Jeffrey Jackson, CPA, CA Partner Jackson & Co., LLP

Associated Lawyers

Irwin Steinberg

David M. Israel

David A. Brooker (Estate litigation and mediation)

Eli Leibowitz

Marc Weisman

Daria Krysik

Contact

David M. Israel

Eli Leibowitz

Marc Weisman

Recent Key Projects

Canadian counsel on a multi-jurisdictional estate plan including planning and the preparation of wills and powers of attorney. Our client had significant business interests and holdings in Canada and other counties. We "quarterbacked" the planning with foreign counsel to ensure the planning was integrated across the various countries.
Counsel on the reorganization of a family business and investments including an estate freeze, family trust and shareholders agreement among the matriarch, patriarch and their children, preparing wills and powers of attorneys and planning relating to the equalization of children not participating in the business.
Worked with U.S. counsel in connection with the preparation of a family trust owning significant U.S. assets to avoid U.S estate tax.

know-how.

"David took care of my wife and I when we wanted to get a will done. We had two kids and wanted to make sure they were taken care of if anything should happen. David explained everything in very simple terms for us, gave us great suggestions and we really felt as ease with him."
Warner Strauss