Practice Area
Trusts & Estates
Practice Description
Tax-Exempt Organizations and Trusts and Estates. Tax-exempt organization practice includes all aspects of an organization’s legal work, including formation, regulatory compliance and tax advice, operational, business and real estate issues, employee relations, international activities and grantmaking, and litigation. Trusts and estates practice emphasizes transfer tax planning, family business planning, charitable giving, complex estate and trust administration, and advising financial institutions on questions of fiduciary law.
Education
- A.B., 1971 University of North Carolina
- M.A., 1973 University of Michigan
- J.D., 1981 University of Michigan Law School (magna cum laude, Fulbright Hayes Scholar)
Admissions
1982 New York
Affiliations
- Fellow, American College of Trust and Estate Counsel
- The Association of the Bar of the City of New York (Committee on Non-Profit Organizations, Chair, 2001-2004)
- New York State Bar Association (Trusts and Estates Section)
- American Bar Association (Section of Taxation; Subcommittee on Tax-Exempt Organizations)
- Non-Profit Coordinating Committee (Governmental Affairs Committee)
- Council on Foundations (Philanthropic Advisors Network)
Publications Available on this website...
"
Annual Gift Tax Exclusion Amount to Increase to $13,000 as of January 1, 2009,"
Client Advisory, October 29, 2008; "
Political and Legislative Activity By Private Foundations,"
Client Advisory, June 13, 2002; "
Charitable Foundations,"
Client Advisory, February 7, 2001; "
Private Foundations and Public Notice of the Availability of Annual Returns,"
Client Advisory, October 16, 2000
Additional Publications
"Estates and Foundation Beneficiaries,"
New York University Conference on Tax Planning for 501(c)(3) Organizations, Summer 1999; "Private Foundations Breed Estate Planning Complexities,"
Practical Tax Strategies, January 1999; "Affluenza: Planning Concerns of the Wealthy for their Children,"
Trust & Investments, September/October 1998; "Selecting a Not-for-Profit Entity,"
New York and Delaware Business Entities: Choice, Formation, Operation, Financing and Acquisitions (West Group, 2000); "Accountability of Directors of Not-for-Profit Corporations,"
Director’s Monthly, August 1997.
Presentations
“Charitable Gifts: Restricted Gifts, Pledges, Trusts and Bequests,” Planned Giving Group of Greater New York, June 2006; “Making the Most of Your Tax Exemptions,” Office of Planned Giving, The Metropolitan Opera, May 2006; “Private Foundations Update,” New York Society of Certified Public Accountants, December 2005; “Tax Issues in International Philanthropy,” Practising Law Institute, December 2005; “Charities and Disaster Relief,” Association of the Bar of the City of New York, September 2005.
Illustrative Matters
| Client |
Description |
| Exempt Organizations |
Foreign grantmaking by U.S. private foundations. Creating a U.S. affiliate of an international organization. Creating U.S. “Friends of” organizations to support foreign charities. Advising U.S. organization operating a school abroad. Division of private foundations. Merger of autism research organizations. Governance and compliance audits. Pro bono creation and representation of Twin Towers Fund. Creation of donor advised fund. |
| Corporate Fiduciaries and Related Businesses |
Advice to five major trust companies, an insurance company and a mutual fund company on issues of transfer tax and fiduciary law with respect to common trust fund conversions, mutual fund fees, financial product review, trust marketing, response to Federal Reserve audit issues, and institutional policies and internal procedures for trust and estate administration. |
| High Net Worth Individuals |
Estate planning for high net-worth clients; complex estate and trust administration including individuals with assets in excess of $500,000,000, IRS technical advice requests and tax litigation. |