Trusts and Estates

Stuart M. Gladstone, Co-Chair
Susan K. Dromsky-Reed, Co-Chair

Brach Eichler’s Trusts and Estates Practice provides state-of-the-art estate planning for clients and their families, as well as estate and trust administration. Our clients include individuals, closely held business owners, charities, trustees, executors, and personal representatives.

Our attorneys have deep experience with the most sophisticated estate planning vehicles and routinely deal with complicated issues associated with intergenerational planning. The practice has implemented estate plans involving:

• Family limited partnerships and limited liability companies
• Grantor-retained annuity trusts
• Personal residence trusts
• Qualified personal residence trusts
• Dynasty trusts and other generation-skipping transfers
• Intentionally defective grantor trusts
• Irrevocable life insurance trusts (for individual life coverage as well as second-to-die / survivorship coverage)
• Split dollar life insurance planning
• Charitable remainder and lead trusts
• Private charitable foundations
• Private annuities
• Asset protection trusts
• Special needs planning
• Retirement planning including planning for qualified plans and IRAs
• Financial powers of attorney
• Prenuptial agreements
• Living wills, health care directives, and combined advanced directives

Additionally, the practice represents business owners with business succession planning, preparation of buy-sell agreements, shareholder’s agreements, employment agreements, assistance with pension matters, and general tax planning.

Our attorneys are also actively involved in all aspects of the administration of estates and trusts, including sophisticated postmortem tax planning; gift, estate, and inheritance tax return preparation/audit defense; disclaimer planning; and probate court administration. This includes will challenges, will and trust reformation, contested accountings, and fiduciary litigation. The practice, working in conjunction with our Litigation Practice, provides probate litigation attorneys and guardianship petitions. Through our team of experienced attorneys, paralegals, and support staff we handle:

• Planning and preparation of gift, estate, and inheritance tax returns, and fiduciary income tax returns
• Probate court accountings
• Review and analysis of valuation reports
• Working closely with certified public accountants
• Coordination with financial planners
• All other documents required for administering sophisticated estates