Wills, Trusts & Estate Planning

Devine Millimet provides estate planning services to clients at all levels of wealth, of all ages, and from all types of businesses, professions, and occupations. We strive to find creative solutions to complex issues in a manner that meets clients' objectives while minimizing estate taxes, protecting assets and family trusts, avoiding the complexities and expenses of probate, and other administrative headaches. We work with the family advisors, including CPAs, insurance professionals, financial advisors, and corporate counsel to ensure an integrated approach to the family plan.

From the preparation of wills, revocable trusts, powers of attorney and living wills, to more sophisticated estate planning tools such as insurance trusts, charitable trusts and qualified personal residence trusts, to efficient estate and trust administration, to the preparation of estate, gift and fiduciary income tax returns, the Devine Millimet team focuses on preparing and implementing a comprehensive family wealth succession plan.

Our Services

Preparation of Trust Instruments, Wills, and Other Plan Documentation

Our lawyers work to understand our client’s objectives, and then review the various options available. We then develop plans including preparation of basic estate planning documents such as wills, revocable trusts, durable financial powers of attorney, durable health care powers of attorney, and living wills.

Estate Tax Planning

We identify wealth transfer techniques which reduce or even eliminate estate taxes. Utilizing options such as the marital deduction and credit shelter trusts, irrevocable insurance trusts, grantor retained income trusts (GRIT’s) and qualified personal residence trusts (QPRT’s), we formulate comprehensive estate plans which minimize estate tax exposure.

Charitable Giving

To help clients achieve charitable objectives and obtain charitable gift, estate and income tax deductions, we utilize many approaches such as outright gifts, charitable remainder annuity trusts, charitable remainder unitrusts, charitable lead trusts, pooled income funds, and private foundations.

Lifetime Gifting Strategies

There are programs of lifetime giving that allow you to maximize gift and estate tax savings. We help you identify those assets most suitable for gifting and advise you of the various tax saving gifting strategies.

Business Continuity Planning

Business owners need to carefully structure their assets to allow for orderly succession of the business. Prior to the death or retirement of the family business owner, there has to be a comprehensive plan in place for either passing the business to the next generation or maximizing its value by sale to a third party. Devine Millimet prepares corporate structure documents (corporation, LLC, partnership), shareholder agreements, buy-sell agreements and family partnership and LLC operating agreements. We strive to preserve business value and the continuation of income with minimum taxation to surviving family members.

Marital Planning

Estate plans are sometimes challenged by relatives, such as second spouses who might claim interests that were earmarked for children of a prior marriage. As part of the planning process, our lawyers can help anticipate such challenges. When called for, we can negotiate and prepare prenuptial agreements to ensure that everyone’s wishes are memorialized in the present and honored in the future.

Planning for Special Needs

We work with clients to structure unique trusts and estate plans to meet the special needs of disabled individuals and to preserve their continued eligibility for government sponsored programs, if applicable.

Planning for Special Assets

We plan for unique assets such as works of art, real estate, collections, and other valuable tangible personal property.

Planning for the Elderly

We counsel on planning for retirement, the use of pension funds and IRAs, housing and medical care, long-term care and Medicaid eligibility.