Financial Preservation:
Tax, Estate & Probate Services

• Estate Planning for Individuals & Families
  
• Tax & Estate Planning for Business Owners
  
• Tax & Estate Planning for the Wealthy
  
• Estate Planning for Persons with Special Needs
  
• Probate/Trust Administration & Probate Litigation

Since the bulk of Danna McKitrick's clients have long been closely-held businesses for which we've provided on-going counsel, it became natural for us to assist the owners of these businesses as they prospered and matured. We help people plan toward keeping more of what they have while living, as well as planning for distributing their estates upon passing away.

Our practice today includes a large number of individuals — whether wealthy or not — who seek our advice in organizing their financial holdings and preparing plans for assuring future accessibility of these holdings for themselves and their families. A very large part of keeping what you have is planning carefully to reduce tax obligations that may be quite significant.

We work with families to provide for a smooth transition of assets to spouses, children, and others who will receive gifts or inheritance from you. Since transferring assets often, but not always, occurs upon someone's death, we try to ease the administration during difficult times by carefully addressing the details in advance. To assure families' wishes will be met, we use appropriate combinations of trusts, wills and non-probate transfers.

With the availability of so many different types of programs to consider — wills, trusts (both revocable and irrevocable), gifting, deferred compensation, insurance, etc. — knowing which to employ for what purpose can be overwhelming. More importantly, what works for your needs today may not be best for your needs tomorrow.

Finding a resource who takes the time to understand and care about your personal situation is imperative for the outcome you deserve. We keep our ears open for signs your situation is changing so we can ask the right questions to ensure plans stay true to your needs.

We can help you identify and prioritize all the appropriate considerations such as:

• How should funds be distributed and when?
  
  • Should distributions be made outright or held in trust?
    
  • Is there a need to protect children from themselves by staggering distributions over time?
• Are there obligations to consider? Children from a previous marriage?
  
• How can we minimize estate taxes for your heirs?
  
• Who will receive any assets and in what form?
  
• Does a family member have special needs?
  
• Do you have an interest in charitable giving?

We assist you with these decisions and more by guiding you through the processes of analyzing your needs and those of your family, determining your objectives, evaluating your options, and making your choices. We prepare all the appropriate documents to assure your wishes are met. And, at the appropriate times, we can assist with carrying out your desired actions.

Tax, retirement and estate planning are the greatest assurances you can have that your desires will be reality as you age and that, upon your death, your surviving family members will not have to go through undue aggravation to obtain what you want them to have.

Our Tax & Estate Law Team works daily with people to bring them the peace of mind that comes from knowing their affairs are in order and will be seen to the way they desire. Talk with Danna McKitrick about how to put our attorneys to work for you.

Estate Planning
Estate planning and the administration of ongoing trusts for your beneficiaries requires an advisor you can relate to and trust. Danna McKitrick's attorneys are trustworthy resources for you and your family members. You want to know your wishes and needs will be attended to with utmost attention to details. Our caring and experienced professionals stay on course to try to achieve the results you want as tax-effectively as possible.

Tax & Estate Planning for Business Owners
Business owners typically have special circumstances where the values of their businesses are closely tied to their personal net worth. Since profits are often passed through to owners/shareholders, working with our tax professionals can help you avoid surprise tax obligations.

A well-planned strategy for eventual exit from the business can make all the difference in your resulting financial position — whether through sale, early retirement, succession to other family members or employees, or some combination thereof. From a tax standpoint, there is rarely a more impactful transaction for an owner than when they profit from exiting their business.

Estate planning for the business owner is significantly more complex than for individuals who do not own a business. With assets tied up in the business, many additional considerations exist including assuring adequate income or proceeds from the business for your surviving spouse and other heirs. Our attorneys work daily with business owners to establish plans that bring them peace of mind knowing their affairs are in order.

Our Business Law team includes several tax attorneys who know their stuff and use it to your advantage. We are able to coordinate the legal and tax considerations of businesses and their owners for income, gift, and estate tax consequences.

Tax & Estate Planning for the Wealthy
When your net worth is high, taxes saved can represent a sizable amount of money. Always within the law, we apply creative tax strategies to help you keep more of your wealth and allow it to continue to work for you and for your family. Estate planning involves many of the same strategies but goes further to assure your long term goals are achieved before and after your death and that your assets are managed and distributed exactly as you wish.

Estate Planning for Persons with Disabilities
In planning for the worst case scenario for parents or caregivers of disabled persons, the parent/caregiver faces unique challenges because of the need to address unique social and medical needs, and financial needs of their dependents with disabilities. The families we help know that in the event of their death, their loved ones will be looked after and will have their needs met.

Probate
Probate involves the transfer of property and, where necessary, the representation of your interests in probate litigation. Probate itself can serve to confirm the validity of a decedent's will which includes proving it was the most recent will, that the circumstances were appropriate when the will was created, and that there are no other claims to the property that would prohibit it from being passed to the heir. Probate litigation typically involves disputes over wills and discovery of assets.

Cheryl Beebe-Snell
Jim Borchers
Ron Danna
Tom Glick
Barb Maille
Marcia Swihart Orgill
Sophya Qureshi
Patrick Murphy
Misty Watson

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