Estate Planning & Probate

The Estate Planning & Probate attorneys at Bergen & Parkinson, LLC provide sound and creative advice to individuals and families in structuring estate plans to meet their needs. We guide our clients through the maze of the estate tax rules to develop estate plans that meet both their tax and non-tax goals.

In developing and implementing estate plans, our attorneys not only discuss wills (or living trusts) with our clients, we also provide counsel on a wide range of other tax and non-tax issues including:

Business succession planning, including buy/sell agreements
Asset protection planning, including the use of asset protection trusts
Powers of attorney
Retirement benefit planning
Beneficiary designation planning
Techniques to reduce the value of client’s estate, including irrevocable trusts, gifting programs, and qualified personal residence trusts
Techniques to freeze the value of a client’s estate, such as grantor retained annuity trusts
Charitable giving techniques, such as charitable remainder trusts that may provide our clients with income, estate and gift tax benefits
Advance health care plans and/or living wills

We represent a wide range of clients, from young families to business executives, owners of closely held businesses and highly compensated employees.

In the area of probate law, we represent the personal representatives and beneficiaries of estates. Our practice is focused on guiding personal representatives through the probate process and tax compliance requirements. We also help our clients plan in order to minimize estate taxes. In the event of a will or trust contest or other probate litigation, our Trusts and Estates attorneys work closely with the firm’s litigation attorneys to resolve the dispute in the best interest of the client using a timely and cost-effective approach.

Our specialty areas include:

Wills and Trusts
Estate and Gift Tax Planning
Probate & Trust Administration
Guardianships & Conservatorships
Special Needs Planning & Trusts
Elder Law