Reston Advanced Estate Planning Attorneys

Serving Northern VA, DC, and MD

Advanced or complex Estate planning works to protect your assets, your loved ones, you, and your legacy once you are gone. Many estate plans are relatively straightforward affairs that will require deciding how your assets will be distributed, who will take care of your minor children, and what should be done if you are incapacitated.

Preserving Significant Wealth through Targeted Estate Planning

If you are a high-net-worth individual, you will likely wish to take additional steps to protect your considerable assets and minimize the impact of estate taxes. Many techniques available to high-net-worth individuals are tightly regulated and must be carefully implemented and executed to avoid unintended consequences.

Our Reston advanced estate planning lawyers are extensively familiar with the tools necessary to preserving your wealth and legacy. At Zell Law, we leverage our vast knowledge of tax planning,  business planning and business succession planning to build comprehensive estate plans designed to meet all of your needs and objectives. We will thoroughly evaluate your financial circumstances and develop a tailored plan that will work to provide the protection and peace of mind you deserve.

Zell Law represents high-net-worth individuals throughout the D.C. metropolitan area and nationwide. Contact us online or call (571) 410-3500 to discuss your case with us.

Planning for Estate Taxes

When considering whether advanced estate planning is necessary in the first place, it can be helpful to consider the potential impact of estate taxes. Fortunately, many states, including Virginia, have eliminated their state-level estate taxes. The District of Columbia does levy an estate tax, and Maryland heavily taxes estates and inheritances.

The federal estate tax applies to any estate valued at $12.92 million (in 2023) or more. Depending on your state and other circumstances, your heirs and beneficiaries may also be subject to inheritance taxes. If the value of your estate exceeds this threshold, you may wish to consider one of many available advanced estate planning strategies. The threshold is scheduled to drop by half at the end of 2025, which raises many opportunities now for advanced estate planning techniques.

Our team has advised business leaders, executives, and high-net-worth individuals on tax matters for over 35 years. Minimizing the impact of estate and inheritance taxes typically involves a combination of trusts, charitable giving, and strategic distribution of assets. We can recommend strategies for facilitating lifetime gifts and sales of equity interests in your business holdings to your loved ones, successors, and/or trusts. 

These tax avoidance strategies must be meticulously executed to avoid unintended consequences. Some of these tax burdens could be inadvertently passed to your heirs. We have a deep understanding of the evolving regulatory landscape and can provide the guidance you need to avoid these outcomes.

Asset Protection Attorneys to help you

As a high-net-worth individual, you will need to protect your assets from creditors and predators. There are several strategies for preserving financial reserves, personal property, real estate holdings, and other types of lucrative assets. Federal and state laws protect certain types of property from creditor claims, but you will likely need to incorporate additional estate planning tools to achieve broader and more complete protection. We are familiar with all laws regulating asset protection vehicles and can help you avoid making common mistakes that can lead to substantial liabilities.

Our Reston advanced estate planning attorneys can assist you with establishing:

• Self-settled asset protection trusts
• Limited liability entities, including corporations and limited liability companies (LLCs)
• Offshore trusts and entities
• Private Placement Life Insurance
• Family limited partnerships (FLPs)

Avoiding Unnecessary Conflict

While it can be unpleasant to consider, the reality is that there is a lot at stake when a high-net-worth individual passes away. Estranged family members and other interested parties may be frustrated with decisions made by the decedent and may attempt to derail the asset distribution process. Many of our estate planning strategies consequently work to avoid probate and minimize the involvement of the courts. The goal is to make the distribution of inheritances as painless and efficient as possible.

As a high-net-worth individual, you should still attempt to anticipate potential conflicts and incorporate steps to combat them in your estate plan. All trusts and your will should use unambiguous language and be exhaustively reviewed by a legal professional. You may also wish to consider avoiding appointing a potentially controversial family member or figure as your estate or trust administrator. We provide trustee and fiduciary services and can serve as both your estate and trust administrator. Our team can also help your loved ones litigate any disputes over your estate plan.

Additional Tools

Our Reston advanced estate planning lawyers can help you explore all available techniques that can help you minimize estate taxes, achieve asset protection, and meet all other goals. We aim to help you make informed decisions, so we will walk you through each option available to you and help you understand how each instrument works.

Our team at Zell Law can assist you with:

• Life insurance trusts
• Qualified personal residence trusts
• Spousal lifetime access trusts (SLAT)
• Dynasty trusts
• Minor’s trusts
• Grantor retained annuity trusts (GRAT)
• Irrevocable grantor and non-grantor trusts
• Charitable planning, including charitable lead trusts, charitable remainder trusts, donor advised funds, and private foundations

Protect your wealth today. Contact us online or call (571) 410-3500 to request an initial consultation.