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 delays 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 spousal lifetime access trusts, irrevocable trusts, 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

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

Estate Tax Planning

We identify wealth transfer techniques by formulating comprehensive estate plans which minimize or even eliminate federal and state-level estate tax exposure, including marital deduction and credit shelter trusts, irrevocable insurance trusts, grantor retained income trusts and qualified personal residence trusts.

Charitable Giving

We work with our clients to achieve philanthropic objectives and develop plans obtain charitable gift, estate and income tax deductions, including outright gifts, charitable remainder annuity trusts, charitable remainder unitrusts, charitable lead trusts, pooled income funds, and private foundations.

Lifetime Gifting Strategies

We help our clients identify lifetime giving strategies to maximize gift and estate tax savings.

Business Continuity Planning

We work with business owners to structure their estate plan to allow for orderly succession of the business, whether passing the business to the next generation or maximizing 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 attorneys 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.  Our attorneys have expertise to develop plans to preserve a beneficiary’s continued eligibility for government sponsored programs and to develop a plan that provides care and support in the future.

Planning for Special Assets

We help clients develop plans for their 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.