Demonstrated Expertise

Take advantage of the unique expertise of our attorneys who are accustomed to dealing with personal and confidential information and practiced at negotiating the most sensitive subjects.

Comprehensive Plans

Estate and Trust Distribution Planning:

Well thought out plans not only allow for you to control who receives your assets but they can also serve to determine when and how those assets will be distributed. Careful planning takes into account the special needs of family members and, where appropriate, provides strategies to minimize tax obligations. For example, do you care if the assets that you eventually pass to your children may get taken by their future creditors or by a spouse in a divorce? You get to decide with proper planning.

Business Exit and Succession Planning:

You have already invested so much in building your business. In many cases, your business is your major investment and you may eventually need to use the business or its value to receive your desired level of retirement income: operating without an exit strategy or succession plan leaves too much to chance. We can help create a plan designed to prepare your business to be passed to one or more family members, to be passed to one or more non-family trusted employees, or to be sold at its full value, while at the same time ensuring, to the extent possible, that you have the desired funds on which to eventually retire or to provide for your other goals, such as starting your next business.

Charitable Giving and Charitable Organizations:

Supporting your favorite charitable organizations during your lifetime or as part of your estate not only provides tax benefits but can be a virtuous way to provide support, sustain a cause, establish a legacy or commemorate a person or event. In addition, taking advantage of the tax leverage from more creative charitable giving techniques can allow you to either reduce the net cost of your gift or enable you to give a potentially much larger gift at the same net cost. As a result, you can go from making a nice gift to making an impact.

We can also assist you in the structuring and formation of charitable organizations which can range from active charities helping society in some way to more passive family charitable foundations, which provide funds to other worthy active charities, and which, if desired, can involve your family and continue beyond your lifetime.

Skilled Negotiators

Estate and Trust Dispute Resolution:

Sometimes the best plans fail to take into account all of the pertinent issues and your desired beneficiaries are left with plans that were not kept current or made complete. At other times an inappropriate fiduciary selection -- whether it be the executor, trustee or otherwise -- has exposed the best laid plans to significant, unnecessary risk because of a failure to properly and timely carry out duties, a lack of communication, an inappropriate use or transfer of assets, or otherwise. In these uncomfortable situations, you will find reassurance in our expert understanding of the laws and our effective, professional approach to resolving concerns and disputes.

Tax Controversies:

Have you been notified by the IRS that you or your business owes a significant amount of income or employment taxes, penalties and interest? Have you been notified by the IRS of a gift or estate tax audit? We, at M&D, can help.

We first determine if the liability is correct. If the liability is incorrect, we can fight for you to get this problem corrected. These issues are normally technical in nature and our extensive tax expertise makes us uniquely qualified to get you the proper result. If the amount is correct, then we can work with the IRS on your behalf to determine the best way for you to either pay, reduce or otherwise deal with this liability.