We help clients develop and implement an overall estate plan that allows an orderly and tax-efficient transfer of assets. We often advise in multigenerational family situations. We work closely with their clients' professional advisors – trust officers, investment advisors, accountants, insurance planners – on managing and transferring assets. We also provide estate and trust administration services and advise on post-mortem tax planning.

Closely held businesses have particularly complex tax issues. We have substantial experience in domestic and international tax planning for these businesses and their owners.  We advise clients on entity and succession planning, including the use of family limited partnerships (“FLPs”); the use of grantor retained annuity trusts (“GRATs”); transfers to irrevocable trusts involving complex valuation issues (“IDGTs”); qualified personal residence trusts (“QPRTs"); irrevocable life insurance trusts (“ILITs”); and the use of charitable remainder trusts (“CRTs”), charitable lead  trusts (“CLTs”) and private foundations to further both family planning and philanthropic objectives.

Our founder and managing member, Kevin Matz, has written and spoken extensively about the use of family limited partnerships and various other leveraged transfer techniques, as well as estate planning strategies for groups ranging from private equity fund managers to professional athletes, and has been frequently cited in the professional literature (including at the Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning) for his innovative solutions and analysis.  Mr. Matz is also the co-author of the acclaimed treatise Estate Planning for Professionals – Understanding What is Needed for Estates of Any Size (Cannon Financial Institute 2009).  Mr. Matz is regarded as one of the top creative minds and service providers in the field of tax and estate planning, with unsurpassed problem-solving skills and unparalleled devotion and responsiveness to his clients. 

Representing U.S. and non-U.S. individuals on domestic and offshore tax and estate planning, we set up domestic and offshore trust vehicles and work with banking institutions in various jurisdictions. We also represent individual clients on audits of their tax returns on issues involving domestic income, gift, and estate taxes.

We are highly experienced in the administration of complex trusts and estates, including the preparation of probate documents, fiduciary accountings, and estate and fiduciary income tax returns. We are also highly skilled in handling all related litigations such as Will contests, contested accountings, and tax controversy matters, as well as in general commercial litigation.    

Because business considerations are closely linked to personal tax and estate planning for owners of closely-held businesses and families that control substantial assets, we advise on a broad range of management issues including succession planning, corporate finance, stock holdings, restructuring, and ongoing management.

We assist senior executives with employment contracts, compensation arrangements, compensation agreements, golden parachutes, and stock option plans, as well as on retirement planning. We also advise on compensation issues in the context of corporate transactions. We are also highly experienced in representing non-U.S. nationals in the United States and U.S. citizens posted overseas, counseling issues from tax planning to domicile matters.

We assist the foundation and endowment community and tax-exempt organizations on their operations, including investment transactions. We also help charities to structure innovative planned-giving arrangements.

We provide a variety of advisory, compliance, and dispute resolution services to both the institutional and private-client areas of bank trust departments and trust companies.  New opportunities to serve the private clients market often involve new product or service issues outside the realm of traditional trust activities. In addition to supporting their day-to-day fiduciary activities, we also help financial institutions to develop new products and services for their private client customers.

We also assist Bank Trust departments in adapting their investment procedures to the Prudent Investor Act, and in navigating the uncertainty surrounding the deductibility of costs that are paid or incurred by trusts or estates that has been sparked by the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Knight v. Commissioner and the IRS’s issuance of proposed regulations under Section 67(e) of the Internal Revenue Code. We also provide representation on legal challenges to their administration of individual trusts and commingled funds, and provide counsel to individual clients in fiduciary litigation matters, such as will contests and construction proceedings.

In addition to being an attorney with an LL.M. in Taxation from New York University School of Law, our founder and managing member, Kevin Matz, is a certified public accountant with substantial experience in all forms of tax return preparation.  Accordingly, we prepare income tax returns and related tax filings for individuals, corporations, partnerships, charitable and tax exempt organizations, private foundations, estates, trusts and other entities.  We also prepare estate and gift tax returns.