Trusts & Estates

No matter your age or your estate’s value, planning is important for you and those you care about. Estate planning allows you to enjoy your life knowing that your assets and interests are protected.  

Without a plan, your estate may be distributed contrary to your wishes when you die or burden your loved ones with unnecessary expenses, confusion, and stress. For business owners, planning ensures a sound path forward that protects the business’ financial and human capital. 

Estate Planning 

Woods Rogers’ trusts and estates attorneys work with clients and their advisors to set clear goals for your estate. Managing assets is not always a simple process and can have costly tax ramifications. We help make estate planning uncomplicated, coordinated, and clear. 

Our approach includes taking a complete inventory of your estate to ensure nothing is left unattended. We discuss lifetime and post-death goals for the assets, family situations, special needs, and any other considerations. Understanding your income and estate taxes and the best approach to holding title to the assets are an integral part of our estate planning process. Then we create and implement a plan that best reflects your goals and end-of-life wishes.  

Our services include: 

• Advance medical directives, also known as “living wills” 
• Charitable giving techniques and strategy 
• Gift and estate tax returns 
• Gift tax planning 
• Health care power of attorney 
• Powers of attorney 
• Probate processes 
• Revocable and irrevocable trusts 
• Trust modifications and terminations 
• Wills 

Wealth and Succession Planning 

There are a variety of ways to contribute to future generations’ financial security. WRVB’s trusts and estates attorneys help you set up appropriate structures to manage assets during your lifetime and arrange for the best approach to transfer assets to your beneficiaries. We advise on making charitable gifts through private foundations and other gift-giving vehicles. When needed, we provide counsel on resolving estate and gift tax issues with the IRS or through litigation, if necessary. 

WRVB’s trusts and estates attorneys also work with business owners to address succession planning, tax planning, and filing tax returns. Whether a business is continued after the owner’s death or sold, there are tax liabilities that proper planning can protect against. 

Our services include: 

• Business succession planning 
• Charitable giving techniques and strategy 
• Dynasty trusts 
• Family limited liability companies 
• Family trusts 
• Qualified Domestic Trusts (QDOT or QDT) 
• Qualified Terminable Interest Property Trust (QTIP) 
• Representing parties in the formation, expansion, purchase, and/or sale of their companies 
• Spousal access trusts 

Trusts & Estates Administration 

As part of our comprehensive estate administration practice, we provide fiduciary services to trustees and executors while working closely with financial advisers. 

We assist clients with the following services: 

• Filing probate and administration petitions 
• Distributing estate and trust assets to named beneficiaries 
• Preparing federal and state fiduciary income tax returns and personal income tax returns 
• Preparing estate and gift tax returns 
• Resolving creditors’ claims 
• Submitting mandatory reports to courts 

Trusts & Estates Litigation 

Should a dispute arise over an estate plan, we represent fiduciaries and beneficiaries in will contests and contests involving trusts.