We advise individuals with high net worth and modest means on their estate planning and their income and estate tax matters, provide family and personal tax-exempt organizations with creative strategies for tax-advantaged charitable giving, and advise successful established and emerging small companies in balancing their owners’ business and personal concerns.

Client focus

• Individuals and families
• Family businesses
• Personal foundations

Services to individuals and families
Estate planning. Our lawyers develop personalized estate planning solutions that are carried out the way each client intends, maximizing financial benefits while minimizing taxes and fulfilling all fiduciary responsibilities. Although our plans will fully provide for the distribution of assets that occurs after death, we can create a variety of trusts and lifetime gifts to shelter family assets and minimize tax impact, and establish independent asset management arrangements.

Tax planning. Our long-term, sophisticated planning focuses on reducing tax liability through every provision that the tax law allows. Even if financial planning needs involve issues relating to family businesses or natural resource assets, we can handle it to maximum tax advantage. Our team assists our client in creating a variety of trusts and lifetime gifts to shelter assets and minimize tax impact, while diversifying and structuring investments for maximum tax flexibility.

Estate administration. Our lawyers work with executors and administrators to see that estate details are handled properly, within legal requirements for executors, trustees, guardians, heirs, and beneficiaries. Our services include probating the will, and preparation of federal estate tax returns. We also resolve estate administration controversies among heirs, fiduciaries, creditors and taxing authorities.

Family issues. Clients turn to our lawyers to prepare powers of attorney, healthcare powers of attorney, directives to physicians and other special documents related to family concerns. We also can assist clients with pre-marital agreements, including property characterization issues, liability for taxes and support obligations in the event of divorce. If a child, spouse or other beneficiaries who cannot manage their own affairs need special care, we handle sensitive guardianship issues.

Services to family businesses
Succession planning. Cox Smith assists our clients with various aspects of business succession planning, helping clients achieve personal and business objectives through management and tax strategies that enable placement of the right family and company members in officer and director positions. That includes handling the necessary issues of control with tact and sensitivity when these considerations span several generations, or are made more complex by divorce and remarriage. When necessary we can also arrange for the efficient sale or dissolution of the business.

Tax planning. We craft personalized estate plans that minimize taxation, provide for the distribution of assets that occurs after death, and shape business owners’ own financial futures through the creation of trusts and lifetime gifts. Our tax planning services can also integrate insurance, tax-deferred compensation and IRA distributions.

Operational issues. Our lawyers build the organizational structure that is best suited for each family company’s operations, finances and potential transactions. We work effectively with accountants and tax advisers to structure maximum tax efficiency and wealth preservation. Our counsel also includes developing the right compensation and benefit plans for business owners, and helping clients address their financing needs.

Services to personal foundations
We prepare unique trusts to address family estate planning needs. These include charitable lead trusts and charitable remainder trusts whose organization and structure meet all Tax Code requirements for tax-exempt status. Our lawyers complete the details to qualify tax-exempt status for contributions to qualified domestic trusts, grantor retained income trusts, special needs trusts for family members requiring long-term care arrangements, and charitable trusts that address charitable giving and tax management strategies.