Estate and Corporate Tax Planning and Administration for Individuals and Businesses

Our  attorneys advise  clients on the tax consequences of compensation packages and  shareholders agreements, and  advise  impending retirees on estate, inheritance and  gift tax issues.  Our attorneys assist with the transfer of assets in order  to minimize tax repercussions.

• Estate taxes – Both federal  estate taxes and state estate taxes may be applicable  in New Jersey. (This is not the case in Delaware, Nevada and many other states.)
• Inheritance  taxes – Currently,  New  Jersey  and  Maryland  are  the only  states that collect  both estate taxes and state inheritance taxes. However, any assets that pass to the deceased’s spouse or descendants may be exempt.
• Gift taxes – Gifts made  by one  individual to another may be taxable, if they exceed the federal annual   exclusion   amount.  However,  the  federal   tax  code   also  provides  a  lifetime  gift  tax exemption ($11,700,000 in 2021) that can often offset those taxable gifts.

Legal Strategies for Avoiding Transfer Taxes

Many sophisticated strategies exist for making lifetime gifts to avoid transfer taxes. These  strategies include the use of:

• Tax  benefits  such  as  the annual   exclusion   and  the gift,  estate and  generation-skipping  tax exclusions
• Valuation  techniques  such  as  qualified   personal  residence  trusts (QPRT’s),  grantor retained annuity trusts (GRAT’s) and family limited partnerships (FLP’s)
• Charitable gifts

Integrations with Other Legal Issues

Because there are  tax ramifications to issues  as disparate as divorce  actions (nearly 50  percent of criminal tax fraud  cases  are triggered by matrimonial suits), property tax revaluations and real estate transactions, our lawyers  frequently work with department chairs across  many specialties. These cooperative,  interactive  in-house  resources provide  our  clients  with  versatile,  effective,  seamless legal protection.