Estate, Gift and GST Tax Planning

The estate planning attorneys at Schneider Bell understand that individuals and families who are planning their legacy must consider how estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer (GST) taxes impact preserving and transferring their assets.

Our dedicated teams of Trusts and Estates and Tax attorneys bring a sophisticated, coordinated approach to tax planning, ensuring that your plans align seamlessly with your financial goals and family intentions. Our firm is committed to creating customized, tax-efficient strategies that maximize wealth transfer while minimizing tax liabilities, providing you with peace of mind that your wealth will be preserved for generations to come.

Focus Areas:

Asset Protection Planning

Charitable Planning

Estate, Gift and GST Tax Planning

Income Tax Planning

Multi-Generational Planning

Prenuptial and Postnuptial Agreements

Retirement Distribution Planning

What Is Estate, Gift and GST Tax Planning?

Estate, gift and GST tax planning involves carefully structured strategies designed to transfer wealth while minimizing the impact of federal taxes on these transfers. This planning encompasses not only the creation of wills and revocable trusts but also more advanced mechanisms like irrevocable life insurance trusts, spousal lifetime access trusts, charitable lead trusts, charitable remainder trusts, grantor retained annuity trusts, intentionally defective grantor trusts, qualified personal residence trusts, dynasty trusts and charitable foundations. Each tool is selected and tailored to fit the unique goals of each client, ensuring that the transfer of assets occurs in a tax-efficient manner that reflects their personal values and family priorities.

Why Is Estate, Gift, and GST Tax Planning Important?

The interplay between estate, gift, GST and income taxes can be complex, with each tax affecting the others. Without a cohesive strategy, tax liabilities can quickly reduce the value of a legacy, negatively impacting the wealth transferred to future generations. Our attorneys work collaboratively to design integrated plans that consider all aspects of taxation, holistically balancing your charitable intentions, family goals and financial objectives. Proper planning not only minimizes tax impact but also provides a structured path for achieving your legacy intentions.

Collaborative Planning for Optimum Results

At Schneider Bell, our approach to estate, gift, and GST tax planning is rooted in collaboration. Our Trusts and Estates and Tax teams work hand-in-hand with each other and with your other professional advisors to create plans that are tax-efficient and effective. This collaboration allows us to provide clients with individualized solutions that respect their personal and family objectives while achieving significant tax savings. With our guidance, clients benefit from a coordinated plan that uses advanced tax-minimizing structures to protect and grow their wealth across generations.

The Tools We Use

We offer an array of sophisticated tools and structures to maximize tax efficiency and achieve your wealth transfer goals, including:

  • Wills and Revocable Trusts: Providing foundational documents to ensure your personal assets are transferred in a way that carries out your wishes.
  • Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts: Removing value of life insurance death benefits from your taxable estate.
  • Spousal Lifetime Access Trusts: Benefitting your spouse and descendants while using your estate tax exemption and moving appreciation on the assets outside the transfer tax system.
  • Charitable Lead Trusts: Providing for charities first, with remaining assets transferred to heirs.
  • Charitable Remainder Trusts: Allowing for lifetime income, with remaining assets going to charity.
  • Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts (GRATs): Minimizing gift tax by transferring assets back to you while transferring appreciation on assets transfer-tax free.
  • Intentionally Defective Grantor Trusts (IDGTs): Allowing for growth outside of your taxable estate.
  • Qualified Personal Residence Trusts (QPRTs): Transferring primary or secondary residences with reduced gift tax.
  • Charitable Foundations: Creating your own charitable organization to manage your family’s charitable contributions over time.
  • Dynasty Trusts: Establishing a trust for your current and future descendants which can endure for many generations outside the transfer tax system.

With more than a century of legal experience serving Cleveland and beyond, Schneider Bell is the trusted choice for clients seeking sophisticated estate, gift, and GST tax planning.

Our team’s commitment to excellence, combined with our long-standing track record, ensures that your estate plan not only preserves your legacy but also provides a powerful, tax-efficient pathway to fulfill your goals.

Are you ready to start strategically planning your future? Contact our legal team today.

Contact Us Today