Estate and Gift Tax Planning

We structure estate plans to reflect our clients' wishes and address their concerns.

No matter your marital or family history, we can help ensure that your assets go to whom you want. We will discuss options like a Qualified Terminable Interest Trust (QTIP) that can structure an estate plan to your specifications.

If your spouse is a non-citizen, we can assist in formulating an estate plan to incorporate a Qualified Domestic Trust (QDOT) which will permit the property to go to your spouse and receive the unlimited marital deduction from the taxing authorities.

Our extensive experience in planning for individuals involved in domestic partnerships, civil unions and other committed relationships allow our clients to enjoy peace of mind to have confidence that their wishes and life choices are reflected in their estate planning documents. We will not only structure the planning but assist in protecting life partners.

There is no such thing as a simple Will as nothing is “cookie cutter” in estate planning. We can help you select the appropriate estate planning tools to preserve privacy while carrying out your wishes. We can advise as to the best vehicles to also preserve the integrity of estate planning goals from litigation --- be it protection from creditors or litigious relatives.

We pride ourselves in providing our clients not only with a wealth of knowledge as to estate planning options but wealth transfer tax planning strategies. Life insurance planning techniques, for instance, can provide funds to loved ones in the event of death while maximizing the tax planning alternatives. By establishing an Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust (ILIT), we are able to satisfy both needs of our customers. For our estate planning clients who are also concerned as to their business’ future, we can provide asset protection as well as estate planning by structuring Family Limited Partnerships (FLP) and Limited Liability Companies (LLC) in order to protect the individual’s assets as well as insure continuity of the business interests. In this regard, we will work in concert with the client’s other professionals so all aspects of the client’s needs are addressed. We take pride in having all egos checked at the door so our consumer always gets the best product.

A residence can provide a wealth of estate planning and estate tax planning alternatives. A transfer to a loved one while retaining a life estate in the house is an easy way to have the residence not be part of the portion of your estate subject to probate while retaining all the benefits in the residence for your life.

If you have philanthropic concerns, the planning options we can provide are endless in effectively capturing, preserving and passing on social wealth. Charitable Remainder Trusts and Charitable Lead Trusts provide for both the charity and the individual beneficiaries. As we do with all our trusts, we not only structure our planning instruments but oversee the funding to ensure that our trust “basket is never empty”.

We have a wealth of acumen and experience in the preparation and audits of Estate and Gift Tax Returns both on a federal as well as on a local level. The basic tenet of the Estate and Gift Transfer Tax System is to tax the transfer of property between a transferor and a transferee. Moreover, the Internal Revenue Service wants the tax to be paid on a fairly regular basis. The Personal Representative of an estate must file an estate tax return within nine months of death of the decedent if the total value of the estate exceeds the Applicable Exclusion Amount. We are pleased to state that on a fairly regular basis, the partners at Karlen, Stolzar & Reimann, LLP are called upon to provide their decades of knowledge and experience in preparation and audit of transfer tax returns.

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E. Pfaffenbach

H. Solomon