The Royal Law Firm’s attorneys provide estate planning services to clients from standard documents to complex estate planning involving complex assets and ownership, such as intellectual property and foreign assets. Our practice is structured to offer tiered services at reasonable rates catered to the client’s needs. 

We provide sophisticated estate planning counsel for asset protection, wealth preservation and growth. Additionally, we provide post-mortem legal services as well. 

Intimately familiar with IRS audit procedures, valuation, estate and gift tax returns reporting and compliance, we provide strategic and comprehensive services in trust and estate administration. We have developed strong relationships with well-reputed wealth managers, trust officers, appraisers, accountants, and valuation analysts. We adopt a team approach to ease the burden on the executors, trustees, other fiduciaries, and beneficiaries in managing and administering assets in trusts as well as through the estate administration and probate process. We work with our client’s existing advisors and have a strong referral network to fill gaps to ensure smooth administration. We are very familiar with navigating intestacy laws of multiple jurisdictions, advising on fiduciary duties and responsibilities. We have been retained for expert estate, trust and tax matters and our former experience auditing and examining large estate and gift tax returns is especially sought by clients. 

Practice Areas

We provide comprehensive representation to individuals, business owners and institutions (foundations, nonprofits, trust companies) in trust and estate compliance, law, and administration, including:

Estate Planning

We counsel on and draft estate planning documents starting with standard documents, such as wills, trusts (including special and supplemental needs trusts), powers of attorney and medical directives. 

We also counsel on estate and gift tax planning and charitable planning. Charitable planning includes representing donors and advising on charitable giving and related tax issues as well as strategizing and implementing multi-year gifting plans, preparing and filing gift tax returns and related documents, including related transfer and trust documents. We carefully develop estate plans structured to preserve assets and wealth. Our plans incorporate dynastic planning – to strategize the transfer of wealth to subsequent generations by factoring in liability protection, transfer restriction, and tax saving strategies, including generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax planning and the use of exemptions.

Administration of Decedents’ Estates

We counsel our clients every step of the probate and estate administration process – from compiling and assembling information and documents to file probate documents, determine assets and expenses for tax and filing compliance, to securing any necessary appraisals and valuations. We work with some of the most-esteemed appraisers who are also intimately familiar with the IRS guidelines and procedures. We prepare federal and state estate and inheritance tax returns and fiduciary income tax returns. We also file FATCA and FBAR compliance forms as needed. We counsel and strategize post-mortem tax planning, including disclaimers, tax elections and fiscal year planning aiming to minimize income taxe implications. Our digital platform and streamlined process facilitates preparing and filing  fiduciary accountings and managing distributions to beneficiaries.  We also prepare and file all related  court and probate documents.

In representing personal representatives,  executors, and administrators of estates, we obtain liability discharges as appropriate, and counsel throughout the estate administration process. We counsel and guide the fiduciary with applicable law and fiduciary responsibilities, and also represent them in fiduciary and tax litigation, and on federal and state tax audits. We also manage the distribution of estate assets to beneficiaries and represent beneficiaries’ interests in estate administration.

Administration of Trusts

Our counsel on administering trusts is similar to the administration of estates. We secure liability discharges for trustees, provide advise regarding trust law and fiduciary responsibilities and provide representation to trustees and beneficiaries before courts and taxing authorities. We prepare full accountings of trusts, prepare and file court pleadings and compliance documents, and strategize for changing trust location (situs), beneficiaries, seek to reform or modify trusts, terminate, transfer or decant them as necessary for effective administration and within the confines of the governing laws.  

Additionally, our digital case platform facilitates  trust fiduciary accounting records preparation, maintenance and dissemination. We prepare and file fiduciary income statements, foreign asset compliance and reporting, and income tax returns and coordinate distributions to beneficiaries. We also represent trust beneficiaries. 

Domicile Change and Expatriation

We counsel clients on residency and domicile issues in state and federal estate, inheritance, and income tax planning and assist with domicile changes where appropriate. 

We additionally counsel clients on expatriation rules, the exit tax, and develop planning and compliance strategies designed to minimize negative tax consequences and liability issues. We work with international counsel to formulate an estate and asset protection plan that would be effective before and after expatriation.