Estate Planning and Trust Administration

There are four main components to the firm’s estate planning and administration practice: (1) estate planning; (2) trust administration and probate; (3) conservatorships and guardianships; and (4) estate and fiduciary taxation. Both the probate/trust administration and conservatorship practices include litigation matters, involving such issues as breach of fiduciary duty, death-bed giving, resulting trusts, family disputes, and interference with inheritance.

Estate planning ranges from providing simple plans for clients with non-taxable estates to devising complex, tax-oriented, estate plans for clients with multi-million dollar estates. The estate planning practice includes the planning and documentation of estate plans, implementing plans through the use of auxiliary aids such as lifetime reallocation of assets, lifetime gifts, creation of gift-friendly business vehicles, business succession planning, powers of attorney, and health care directives. Working with charitable trusts, residence trusts, and life insurance trusts is also a substantial part of the practice.

Trust administration and probate include family investment education and the administration of estates containing complex assets such as commercial real estate, family businesses, and unusual collections of personal property. At times, it is necessary for attorneys practicing in this area to become deeply involved in the lives and relationships of clients and their families.

The use of conservatorships (devices for entrusting the conservation of the client’s assets to a third party) and guardianships is a small but significant part of our practice. These devices become necessary when individuals with significant assets do not plan for disability. Owing to our expertise in this area, we frequently assist other firms in Portland and around the Northwest in connection with conservatorships for victims of accidents, plaintiffs in wrongful death actions, and other individuals lacking the capacity to manage their assets.

Tax planning and analysis permeate both the estate planning and trust administration practices. Since we provide comprehensive planning and counseling to our clients on the wide range of issues involving assets held in estates or trusts, we work on a daily basis with fiduciary income tax and estate tax laws. In some cases, representation of an estate or trust involves the same wide array of tax issues that must be considered in business transactions.