Estate Planning

Our team is not only on top of the latest developments in the law, we also bring proven judgment and perspective to each case. When we work with our clients, we invest time in understanding individual objectives and creatively and carefully tailoring solutions to achieve them. Additionally, our team is supported by technicians within the practice — lawyers’ lawyers, as we call them — who are at the top of their fields in complex areas like taxation, retirement planning and philanthropy. Their experience, along with the talent available to us through our corporate, financial institutions and litigation attorneys, provides us with robust resources to help our clients achieve the optimal estate planning solutions for their situations.

Our Clients

We represent high net-worth individuals and families, and in addition to this core client base, we also represent a number of entrepreneurs involved in start-up businesses. We frequently represent clients facing complex or novel situations and those who can benefit from the sophisticated planning techniques we employ. We do not impose a minimum net-worth requirement, preferring to serve a range of clients in different life situations and with different life-stage needs.

There is a recurring theme in our estate planning practice: helping our clients develop their thoughts on how and when to transfer wealth to children or grandchildren. Because of the rapid increase in many of our clients' net worth, this transfer issue has become especially acute in recent years. Besides drafting trusts with terms appropriate for limiting and protecting the flow of wealth to children, our approach often involves educating younger generations about financial and estate planning concepts and working with entire families to develop their philanthropic objectives and plans.

Our Team

Our group of estate planners is exceptionally well qualified. Several of us are members of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, the most prestigious group of estate planners in the nation. In addition to being active in their local communities, many of our professionals enjoy national reputations based on their knowledge and extensive writings in key areas. For example, George Mair is co-author of a leading textbook on estate planning. Most of the members of our group are frequent lecturers for various continuing education programs and other audiences.

Our Services

In addition to fundamental estate planning techniques, we have considerable background and experience in the following areas:

• "Estate freezing" techniques such as Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts (GRATs), Qualified Personal Residence Trusts (QPRTs) and installment sales to "defective" grantor trusts
• Asset value discounting techniques such as fractional interest discounts and discounts generated through use of limited liability companies (LLCs) and family partnerships (FLPs)
• Business succession planning
• Planning for a change of domicile
• Handling of domicile audits
• International estate planning
• Planning for distributions of retirement benefits
• Community property planning
• Asset protection planning through use of domestic and offshore vehicles
• Prenuptial agreements
• Fiduciary litigation
• Planning for authors and artists
• Exempt organizations and charitable planning
• Administering trusts holding in excess of $2 billion in assets

Bingham Charitable Advisers

One key benefit of working with Bingham's Estate Planning Group is access to highly qualified individuals who can offer a comprehensive array of services to individuals, families, private foundations, charitable organizations and businesses to help them develop and implement their philanthropic goals. Bingham Charitable Advisers, a multidisciplinary team, combines Bingham estate planning lawyers, corporate and tax lawyers, and other business professionals from several fields and on both coasts to provide coordinated advice and services. Bingham Charitable Advisers provides advice regarding family philanthropy, foundations, the structure of charitable organizations, ongoing governance issues, management succession, tax issues, compliance with federal and state reporting and other regulatory requirements, strategic planning and financial sustainability.

Our Integrated Team

Another advantage of working with Bingham's Estate Planning Group is the coordinated advice of highly qualified lawyers who focus on a variety of legal issues. We can draw, as needed, on the experience and talents of our colleagues in corporate, tax, employee benefits, real estate and other areas. We are also prepared to assist clients in areas related to the recently increasing demand for "family office" services. We work with our clients' financial advisers to offer services such as investment management, tax planning and compliance, financial planning and even bill-paying. Where helpful and appropriate, our partners are available to serve as trustees and executors for our clients.

Resolving Conflicts

Because tax laws — particularly the laws related to valuation issues — are not black and white, we are experienced in resolving tax conflicts through administrative proceedings within the Internal Revenue Service and through litigation. In addition, we appear in state courts to reform trusts, to resolve questions of document interpretation and to litigate probate cases in Massachusetts and California.

Please find below Barbara Freedman Wand's powerpoint presentation on the "Sandwich Generation" for the recent Massachusetts Conference for Women, together with an article on estate planning, and two estate planning questionnaires (one for a married couple and the other for a single person).

Sandwich Generation

• The Estate Planning "Check Up"
• Estate Planning Questionaire for single people
• Estate Planning Questionaire for married couples