PERSONAL CLIENT SERVICES

The firm’s Personal Client Services Group addresses the needs of both our business and individual clients and embodies Metz Lewis’ practical and proactive counseling principles. The group’s services include:

Estate and Succession Planning

Income Tax

Internal Revenue Service Controversies

Executive Compensation

Estate and Fiduciary Litigation

Adoptions

Our estates and trusts lawyers provide a full panoply of estate planning and estate and trust administrative services to individuals, owners of family businesses, entrepreneurs and charitable organizations, often working with clients’ accountants and investment and insurance advisors. Our traditional estate planning services include:

• Minimizing estate, gift, and generation-skipping taxes through wills and trusts that are specifically tailored to meet our clients’ needs.
• Preparing wills and trusts to address special circumstances such as multi-generational wealth transfer, second marriages, and family members’ special needs.
• Business succession and liquidity planning for owners of closely-held businesses.
• Creating sophisticated estate planning entities such as family limited partnerships and dynasty trusts.
• Structuring lifetime gifting programs, including irrevocable life insurance trusts.
• Planning for disability through living wills, financial powers of attorney, and revocable trusts.
• Advising on the estate and income tax options regarding distributions from qualified plans and retirement accounts.
• Charitable planning, including creation and administration of private foundations, charitable remainder and lead trusts, and pooled income funds.

We design estate plans that are the most tax efficient using appropriate strategies that are available based on the changing legislative landscape. In our planning we consider the complex laws of trusts, estates, employee benefits, personal property, securities, real estate, insurance, partnerships, and corporations in creating an estate plan that achieves each individual client’s goals.

Metz Lewis lawyers administer estates and trusts before and after death and advise family members and fiduciaries on properly fulfilling their duties to administer the estate or trust. We prepare and file all the necessary federal and state inheritance, estate and income tax returns.

In addition, Metz Lewis also handles estate, trust, and guardianship administration (including the representation of both fiduciaries and beneficiaries in contested probate and trust matters), asset protection, and business succession planning.

Estate planning is a broad concept that covers all aspects of an individual’s specific personal and business situation. The Metz Lewis approach is focused on this reality by competent, aggressive and dedicated professionals.

Publications Available For Download:

PERSONAL FINANCIAL AND ESTATE PLANNING INVENTORY
This booklet is designed to assist in preparing a concise record of personal affairs. When completed, it will serve as an important, convenient summary of your financial matters and as a personal reference guide to information needed for financial planning.

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